The status of the NBA’s reigning MVP is in question for the biggest game of the season on Tuesday night.
Sixers superstar Joel Embiid was listed as questionable and missed Tuesday’s shootaround due to a migraine. Kelly Oubre Jr. also missed Tuesday’s shootaround.
Embiid and the Sixers enter Game 5 trailing the Knicks 3-1 and needing a win to keep this first-round playoff series alive. Nick Nurse’s team lost the first two games of the series at Madison Square Garden before splitting two games in Philadelphia.
After the Sixers’ Game 3 win in Philadelphia, Embiid openly spoke about suffering from Bell’s palsy. The center mentioned he sought help for the resulting migraines before facing the Miami Heat in a Play-In Tournament game.
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but obviously I guess that’s a normal thing. I think it started a day or two before the Miami game, and I had bad migraines and thought it was nothing,” he said Thursday. “But usually I don’t like to check it out, but for some reason I ended up, you having to tell somebody and yeah, that’s why that Miami game, it was just, my body, I was just not feeling it.
“I’m sure if you Google the symptoms, you know what it is. Yeah, it’s pretty annoying, you know, with, the left side of my face, my mouth and my eye. So yeah, it’s been tough, but I’m not a quitter, so gotta keep fighting, do anything, but yeah, it’s unfortunate. That’s the way I look at it. But it’s not an excuse. Gotta keep pushing.”
Embiid, who is also hobbled by a knee injury, has averaged 35 points and nine rebounds in this series against the Knicks. He scored 50 points as he bullied his way past the Knicks in the Game 3 victory. Embiid scored 27 points in the 97-92 loss to the Knicks in Game 4 on Sunday but was held to just a single point in the fourth quarter.
