Nurse Addresses Joel Embiid's Injury Scare After Sixers' Win vs. Magic

Joel Embiid left the Philadelphia 76ers' Friday night victory over the Orlando Magic with an injury scare.

Apr 12, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Friday’s game against the Orlando Magic was shaping up to be one of the most important games for the Philadelphia 76ers.

As the Sixers sat in the seventh seed, a victory against the Magic could keep their playoff hopes alive without having to go through the NBA Play-In Tournament.

The Sixers initially listed their star center Joel Embiid as questionable for the matchup. As he continues to manage a knee injury that he’s spent months recovering from, Embiid is taking it game-by-game.

Since returning last Tuesday, the Sixers’ star has played in all but one of the team’s five games leading up to Friday’s outing against Orlando. For the second game in a row, Embiid was cleared to play against the Magic.

During the second quarter, Embiid dealt with an injury scare, leaving uncertainty in his ability to close out the game. Late in the second quarter, Embiid had an awkward landing after attacking the basket to score.

As his team returned to the other end of the court to get back on defense, Embiid struggled and asked for a timeout. Once the Sixers stopped the game, the MVP left the court and went back to the locker room to get checked out.

At that point, it seemed there was a high chance the Sixers could be without Embiid for the remainder of the game. However, that wasn’t the case.

During the final minutes of the Sixers’ halftime warmups, Embiid ran back out onto the court in uniform to get some shots up. When the third quarter started, Embiid officially re-entered the game after his 17-minute shift in the first half.

“Obviously, they assessed him at halftime and there was no swelling and no damage,” said Sixers head coach Nick Nurse. “They said he should be okay to try it and he wanted to try it in the second half.”

The Sixers benefitted from Embiid’s return big time, as he continued to help his team build on its lead against Orlando.

The Sixers wrapped up the matchup with a 125-113 victory. Embiid finished the game with 32 points on 44 percent shooting from the field. He also collected 13 rebounds, and produced seven assists on the offensive end.

The Sixers will assess Embiid on Saturday prior to a practice session to make sure he’s feeling fine after the scare. Considering he was able to play an additional 15 minutes after going out, the Sixers seem optimistic he’ll be just fine moving forward.