Sixers star Joel Embiid admits knee is bothering him, won’t be 100%
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been a dominant player all season long and, really, even in these playoffs. He has been an unstoppable force and there has not been a team that has found an answer for him.
However, he looked very human in Monday’s 103-100 Game 4 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Still dealing with a small lateral tear in the meniscus of his right knee, the big fella had an off night scoring 17 points on 4-for-20 shooting and he shot 0-for-12 in the second half.
He did leave the game in the second quarter for a bit and he admitted afterward that the knee is bothering him.
“I guess it’s already known,” said Embiid. “No need to explain myself anymore. I just try to do the best I can.”
When asked if he was referring to the knee, Embiid said: “Yeah, just try to do the best I can.”
The Sixers will now go home with the series tied at 2-2, but this has an eerily similar feeling to the 2019 postseason when Philadelphia blew a chance to go up 3-1 in the series and it was due to a poor performance by a hobbled Embiid.
Obviously, this is a different team with a different coaching staff, but the Sixers will not get to where they want to go unless the big fella is feeling his best. It will be up to him to get the proper treatment and be sure that he is ready to go for the rest of this series.
“I think I can. It happens, bad games happen,” he added. “I’ve been playing well and sometimes, you just can’t control it. I thought, in the second half, a bunch of shots went in and out, there were a couple of calls that could have gone either way.”
As far as him getting to 100% healthy the rest of this postseason? Don’t count on it.
“I can do better,” he explained. “I can always do better, but as far as being 100%, I don’t think that’s gonna happen until this year is actually over. I just gotta go out and manage it and just deal with it.”
Game 5 of this series is back in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
