The Philadelphia 76ers took another hit Thursday when star Joel Embiid’s knee injury evaluation results emerged.
The 76ers announced before their 127-124 road win over the Utah Jazz that Embiid injured the lateral meniscus in his left knee. The Athletic reported the injury to be a torn left lateral meniscus.
Embiid was ruled out of Thursday’s game earlier in the day and will remain out through the weekend while a treatment plan for him is finalized, per ESPN.
“There’s still uncertainty about how the Sixers medical staff, several specialists and Embiid will move forward to the treat the injured meniscus,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported. “They’ll take more time over the next several days to chart a course.”
The injury is the second big punch against the 76ers on Thursday as earlier in the day they were fined $75,000 by the league for failing to include Embiid on the injury report “in an accurate and timely manner” ahead of a game against the Nuggets last Saturday.
The 2022-23 MVP suffered the injury against the Pacers on Jan. 25, two days before the Nuggets game. Embiid played through the injury and scored 31 points in 31 minutes.
He sat out the following two games against the Nuggets and then the Trailblazers on Monday — both losses — and returned against the Warriors on Tuesday before re-injuring himself in the final minutes.
An extended absence from Embiid could shake up the Eastern Conference race. Philadelphia entered Thursday in fifth place in the conference at 29-17 and had been 3-9 without Embiid so far this season.
It could make way for the Knicks (31-17), who have found themselves on an eight-game winning streak entering Thursday and were third in the conference behind the Bucks and the leading Celtics.
It could further help the Knicks (32-17), who are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak and are in third in the conference behind the Bucks (32-16) and leading Celtics (37-12).
Since adding OG Anunoby in exchange for Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, the Knicks had gone 14-2 ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Pacers.
Since adding OG Anunoby in a trade with the Raptors for Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, the Knicks have gone 15-2.
Also in jeopardy could be Embiid’s MVP eligibility as he has only appeared in 34 of the 76ers’ 46 games. The NBA requires candidates to play in at least 65 games to be considered for the award.
With 36 games remaining in the regular season, Embiid can only miss five more games.