James Harden has to wear 76ers now and this has never happened before. Image: Getty Images
Before Sixers fans could even breathe a sigh of relief at the chance to go to Game 7 despite a 3-0 lead, they gasped when they heard the news that Joel Embiid was out indefinitely with a fractured right orbit and a minor injury. brain concussion. The injury, thanks to Pascal Siakam’s elbow at the end of Philly’s series against Toronto on Thursday, could not have come at a worse time for the MVP candidate, who also plays with a torn ligament in his thumb.
It is now up to teammate James Harden to keep the 76ers afloat against Miami No. 1 in the second round until the big man returns. This is also not Embiid’s first orbital fracture. He broke his left in the 2017-18 season and this required surgery, which forced him to miss three weeks. He missed the first two games of those playoffs, which also came against Heath.
Embiid wore a mask then, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to play through it, if that’s even a remote opportunity. The man has already chosen to postpone the operation, so throwing a mask and hoping it will be enough to keep his eye in its orbit seems a reasonable option. But again, this is, if at all, an option.
The phrase “I can’t take a break” comes to mind, but all Embiid does is break into the playoffs. Last season he played through a torn meniscus, and the year before, the bubble season, he was battling an ankle injury while coming out of the first round against the Celtics. The only season he was healthy in the playoffs, by his volatile standards, was in 2019, when Cowie Leonard famously hit the buzzer with four rebounds in Game 7 to send Philly home.
As someone who loves basketball and would vote for Embiid for MVP if I was given the ballot, it is a royal blow that it happened. He had a crazy regular season and looked like Shaq at a discount to start the playoffs. And overall, the starless NBA postseason never ceases to be demoralizing. Who knows how healthy Devin Booker is, Chris Middleton is out of the Bucks-Celtics series, obviously Jaylan Brown’s hamstring is biting him and now that? Who has an orbital bone that Embiid can occupy in a few weeks?
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Harden supporters, if there are any other than I guess Sixers and Daryl Mori fans, will now be able to watch the Beard try to come out one on five against a team that has just beheaded the Trey Young-led snake with relative ease. Like it or not, we have a reality tour of James Harden.
He may be the best player on the court now that Embid is out, but we haven’t seen this version of Harden since he left Houston. Fasten up … or keep your eyes off.
Ja Morant and Grizzlies are advancing, Ti Morant is winning the right to brag over the traffic police senior.
The last series of the first round ended on Friday night, when Minnesota took another late lead, beating 40-22 in the last period. It was the third time in a series that the Wolves entered the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead and lost.
Memphis now face the Golden State in a rematch of last year’s game, which the Grizzlies won. The match radiates fun, as both teams are healthy, and the amount of depth, athleticism, skill, game, shooting and stars are great. (Please, basketball gods, give us seven games.)
Last night’s real winner was Tee Morant, who had a constant and good-natured feud with Karl Anthony Towns Sr. during the first round. After the match, Tee made the traffic police senior take his son’s T-shirt.
I like the energy, Tee, but there’s no way Ja’s shirt fits the Big KAT.
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