76ers vs. Cavaliers: Joel Embiid Reflects on Injury

Joel Embiid believes he dodged a bullet.

As the Philadelphia 76ers center collided with a teammate two Saturdays ago in the second half of the matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he wasn’t sure just how severe his latest setback would be.

Embiid iced his foot at his locker for roughly an hour after the loss to the Timberwolves. During his postgame press conference, the big man revealed he was still in a lot of pain. He made it a point to mention that he was unsure if he would miss time or not.

Sure enough, two days later, the Sixers guaranteed Embiid would miss matchups against the Brooklyn Nets and the Charlotte Hornets as he was diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain.

Two matchups became four, as Embiid didn’t make the trip to Orlando to face the Magic last weekend. As the Sixers returned home on Many night to host the Atlanta Hawks, Embiid was a game-time decision.

After feeling better physically, the All-Star center deemed himself ready to go against the Hawks.

Embiid was understandably rusty in the first half against the Hawks. Eventually, he turned it around and produced a game-high of 30 points while coming down with eight rebounds and producing seven assists in the Sixers’ win over the Hawks.

After the game, Embiid painted the picture of how difficult it was for him to overcome his recent setback, as he initially believed he might miss a lot more than just four games.

“It’s been hard — I would say probably the following two days after the day I got hurt because I was extremely worried about what it might have been because I couldn’t walk,” said Embiid. “I was just happy that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was, and I wasn’t able to miss a lot of time.”

Despite being questionable before playing on Monday, Joel Embiid doesn’t seem to be considered day-to-day for the Sixers anymore. When the team released its injury report for Wednesday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Embiid was left off of it as he’s cleared and available to play.

The Sixers will want to remain cautious with Embiid’s health, considering he’s missed time on three separate occasions through 21 games this season, but the foot sprain no longer seems to be a considerable issue at this time.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.