Pascal Siakam's Reaction to Injuring Joel Embiid During Game 6

Game 6 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors got rowdy this past Thursday night. Philadelphia began to pull away in the second half after the

Game 6 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors got rowdy this past Thursday night. Philadelphia began to pull away in the second half after the Sixers and the Raptors engaged in a tight matchup in the first half.

For Sixers star Joel Embiid, he felt good knowing his team was well on its way to advance past the first round when the fourth quarter rolled around. And as the big man continued to hear the boos and the negative chants aimed at him, Embiid wanted to seal the deal with a victory and a little bit of showboating.

With four minutes left in the game on Thursday, Embiid threw down a big dunk. On his way back to the other end of the court, he did his infamous airplane celebration, which he broke out during the 2018 playoff run in the second-round series against the Raptors.

Seconds later, Raptors big man Pascal Siakam drove to the basket and ended up elbowing Embiid to the face as he collected an And-1. The way the crowd and the Toronto-based commentary reacted made it seem that Siakam gave Embiid what he deserved after the Sixers center did some showboating while up big.

But following Toronto's Game 6 loss, which eliminated them from the playoffs, Siakam mentioned he doesn't have any issues with the way Embiid celebrated.

The broadcast’s glee and the loud ovation from Raptors fans for this elbow to Joel Embiid… man.

pic.twitter.com/ldiaC82JIG

— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 30, 2022

"It's what he does," said Siakam on Thursday. "Obviously, for us, it's like, we want to play better. We want to be able to beat them. I think we know he's going to do all of this stuff. As long as that's him, I have no problem with it. If we win, it's a different story. He won, and I think that's on him to celebrate however he wanted. I don't think I have anything to say about it."

As for the play that followed Embiid's dunk and in-game celebration, Siakam made it clear that the elbow to the face was in no way intentional and that the Raptors veteran was apologetic after the matchup. 

"Obviously, on the play [after], I feel bad -- awful that I hit his face -- but I was trying to make a move," Siakam explained. "I apologized to him after that. You know, that was definitely not my intention."

Unfortunately, the result of Siakam's accidental elbow cannot be cured with an apology. Although Embiid joked that he thought Siakam might've broken his face on the play after the game, that turned out actually to be the case.

According to a Sixers official, Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a mild concussion. Therefore, Embiid's on pace to miss Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Miami Heat. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.