Joel Embiid Offers Health Update Ahead of Game 4 vs. Celtics

Once again, Joel Embiid’s run in the playoffs has been affected by an injury that he suffered during the first round. As the Philadelphia 76ers were battling it out with the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 a few weeks back, Embiid experienced knee soreness throughout the game.

Eventually, Embiid was diagnosed with a sprained knee. With the Sixers having a 3-0 lead over the Nets in the first-round series, they felt comfortable allowing Embiid to rest for Game 4. In the big man’s absence, the Sixers took care of business and collected a victory to complete the sweep.

The Sixers received more than a week off, which was beneficial for Embiid’s recovery. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough time for Embiid to rest, recover, and return to the court.

When the Sixers faced the Boston Celtics for Game 1 of the second-round series, Embiid was not cleared for action as he went from doubtful to out on the injury report. Going into Game 2, his status changed. Although he was initially doubtful, Embiid was upgraded to questionable before getting cleared for action.

Following the Game 2 loss, Embiid mentioned he felt fine physically.

“I was a bit surprised,” said Embiid. “I mean, yesterday was the first time I was able to go up and down since two weeks. I’m pretty surprised. Then again, I’ve grown a lot and I found ways to take care of myself and kind of know what to do. Obviously, there’s nothing like actually playing a game and finding your rhythm and going up and down. At times, you kind of feel tired. I thought tonight was fine. I should be better as every day goes on.”

Embiid was cleared for action in Game 3 after entering the matchup as questionable. During the loss, Embiid checked in for just under 40 minutes and scored a game-high of 30 points as he played more aggressively than he did in the first outing back.

“I was better than the other night, but honestly, I don’t think there was much difference,” Embiid claimed. “I just think the other night I didn’t touch the ball. I was kind of really just trying to stay out of the way and trying to get my teammates involved and make sure coming off that first game when guys were feeling themselves, and I just wanted to come back and let the game come to me and make sure I put my teammates in positions to succeed. That’s what I did that first game back.”

Going into Game 3, Doc Rivers mentioned that the Sixers needed a more aggressive Embiid in order to defeat the Celtics. Looking at the bigger picture, everything didn’t go as planned, but at least Embiid progressed from a personal standpoint. Now, the Sixers just need to get him going consistently.

“Tonight, I was more assertive and being more aggressive,” Embiid concluded. “I think I didn’t get the ball enough. Not to score but to make plays for my teammates. They have a tendency of doubling quite a bit tonight. I thought we couldn’t use that to our advantage. Then again, when we did, we missed. It was unfortunate, but we also missed a lot of wide-open threes. Like I said, they went down every single time, and they scored, and that changed a lot.”

The Sixers dropped Game 3 at home by taking on a 114-102 loss.

Once again, Embiid is questionable for Sunday's game but is widely expected to play.

Heading into Game 4 on Sunday, the Sixers not only need the best version of Embiid to come out, but they also need more from the supporting cast, which has struggled on the offensive end over the last two games.

Philadelphia and Boston are set to battle it out at 3:30 PM on Sunday.