The Philadelphia 76ers have been on pins and needles over the last day as they’ve awaited word on Joel Embiid’s shoulder ailment. Embiid hurt his left shoulder during the Sixers’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, and with Ben Simmons already sidelined due to a back injury, Philly couldn’t really afford to have Embiid sidelined for an extended period of time.
While Embiid is going to be sidelined, the good news is he may not miss a whole lot of action. According to Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice, Embiid managed to avoid and serious structural damage, and he’ll be evaluated again in a week.
Evaluation confirms Joel Embiid has a left shoulder sprain with no significant structural damage. He will be re-evaluated in one week.
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) February 28, 2020
With how the Sixers always seem to get extremely unlucky with injuries, the fact that Embiid didn’t suffer anything especially serious will probably lead to a whole lot of people breathing a gigantic sigh of relief. Philadelphia’s next two games are brutal — a pair of road tilts against the L.A. teams on March 1 (the Clippers) and 3 (the Lakers) — but things get a bit more manageable in the week or two after that.
Obviously any game where Embiid can’t play hurts, especially with Simmons out for what might be a lengthy period of time, but perhaps this will serve as an opportunity for Al Horford to get into a rhythm. And if not, at least the Sixers can take solace in knowing Embiid didn’t suffer any major structural damage to his shoulder.
