Sixers' Joel Embiid Assures Everybody His Knee is Fine

On Thursday night, Philadelphia 76ers players, coaches, and fans held their breath as Joel Embiid awkwardly landed from a block attempt and held his knee for a few minutes. It was a good sign when he went back to the locker room on his own power, but nobody could be sure the veteran star was going to be OK.

Less than 15 minutes later, Embiid was back on the Sixers' bench in his uniform, ready to go. The big man singlehandedly dominated the rest of the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers before the 76ers eventually lost control of the game in the second half.

The loss wasn't ideal, but the Sixers were at least relieved because Embiid was fine. "I was pretty concerned," Embiid admitted on Thursday. "You never want to mess with any injuries -- especially the knee. I kind of felt it when I landed, but I ended up coming back and pushing through it." 

After hyperextending his knee on Thursday, Embiid was listed as questionable for Saturday's game against the Brooklyn Nets. As his knee was still sore, the Sixers considered Embiid to be a game-time decision. Roughly about 20 minutes before tip-off, he was cleared to play. 

Embiid appeared on the court for just over 30 minutes on Saturday night. While his 33-point performance doesn't show any signs of his knee holding him back, his seven three-point attempts made it seem as if he was less aggressive against the Nets. And a less aggressive Embiid caused speculation that perhaps his knee is bothering him.

But the big man denied that after the win. "I was wide open," Embiid said in regards to taking threes. "Like I always say, can't get too high can't get too low." 

While he wasn't very descriptive regarding his knee, Embiid made it clear he feels fine. And if in the future he has seven three-point opportunities -- he will try to take advantage every single time. 

"It just didn't go in tonight," he continued. "Like I said, can't get too high, can't get too low. [Sometimes] it's gonna go in -- sometimes it's not gonna go in. If they're going to leave me open, there's no reason why I shouldn't shoot it." 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_