Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid will miss Thursday night’s game against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City due to a left knee injury.
ESPN reported that Embiid will head back to Philadelphia and have his knee further examined in the next 24 hours.
Embiid injured the knee in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s 119-107 loss to the Warriors in San Francisco. He went back to the locker room with 4:04 left in the game after Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga landed on his knee during a loose-ball scrum.
Following the contest, 76ers coach Nick Nurse told reporters that Tuesday’s injury had nothing to do with the left knee soreness that prevented Embiid from suiting up for Philadelphia’s two previous games against the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers.
Embiid, 29, leads the NBA in scoring at 35.3 points per game. He also has averaged 11.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and a career-high 5.7 assists across 34 games (all starts).
The six-time All-Star and reigning MVP could be in danger of becoming ineligible for NBA honors this season. A new league rule requires major award winners to play at least 65 regular-season games. Embiid has missed 12 games, and the Sixers have six in a 10-day span.
Embiid’s 14-point effort on 5-of-18 shooting on Tuesday ended his streak of 22 consecutive games with 30 or more points.
–Field Level Media
