Sixers' Embiid knows he has to push his injured knee to the limit against Raptors
The Philadelphia 76ers are feeling the pinch of having to make this post-season run worth the process, and Joel Embiid knows it.
After his playing time in the first round against the Brooklyn Nets had dropped nearly 10 minutes below his regular season average, the 76ers superstar admits that won’t be nearly enough against a Toronto Raptors team that should present much stronger resistance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
“Obviously I only averaged about 24 minutes last series, so this one I'm definitely going to need way more than that,” Embiid told the media at Saturday’s shootaround session in Toronto.
The Sixers have put a lot towards this playoff run, giving up future assets and quality rotation pieces in Robert Covington and Dario Saric to acquire stars Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. It should be noted that while he played significantly less, Embiid still managed to put up 24.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 blocks over the four games he played.
Embiid missed 14 regular season games after the All-Star break before sitting out Game 1 of the first round due to soreness in his left knee, and admitted it’s an issue that will likely bother him for the remainder of the Sixers’ playoff run.
"It's still not there. It's still trying to get better," Embiid said. "But that's an issue that's going to be there at least all playoffs until I actually get some real time to get some rest and work on myself.”
There will be no relief for the Cameroonian going up against Marc Gasol, who has had a stifling impact on Embiid over the last couple of years. The two have been on the court together for 100 minutes over four games, in which time Embiid has averaged just eight points per game while shooting 10-of-21 from two-point range and 0-for-9 from beyond the arc. He has also had 12 fouls and nine turnovers in that span.
Gasol had a significant impact on All-Star Nikola Vucevic during the Raptors’ series against the Orlando Magic, holding the Montenegrin to just 6.8 points on 30.2 percent shooting from the field in the 23 minutes a game they averaged on the court together over the course of the five-game series.
One of the cliches of NBA playoff basketball is that a team is only as good as its best player, and if Embiid is anything but that, it should hand the Raptors a crucial advantage.
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