Philadelphia 76ers will start the series vs the Miami Heat without Joel Embiid, who suffered an orbital fracture. The Sixers’ superstar was injured during Game 6 blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Doc Rivers explained his decision to leave Embiid in the game despite the fact that Philadelphia was up 29 points with four minutes remaining in the game. Rivers defended his decision to have Embiid on the court late in a blowout.
“Everyone was in there, and the other team had all their guys in, too,” Rivers told reporters, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
Joel Embiid took a serious hit to the face from the elbow of Pascal Siakam, who went to the basket for an easy lay-up, but, Embiid was there to take the hit.
Embiid was originally called for a defensive foul on the play, only for Rivers to challenge it and the play to eventually be overturned. He then sat in the bench for the rest of the game before the Sixers announce he suffered a mild concussion and an orbital fracture Friday.
“After Joel made the shot and did the airplane [the prior possession], if you watch the game, I turned and said, ‘I’m calling a timeout on the next possession.’ I’m not upset that he was in,” Rivers said.
“You can make that a big deal if you want. But just go look at every team, and every game, and their guys are in until about the four-, three-minute mark. That’s what it is.”
In any case, Philly hopes to have its star back at some point during the semifinal series vs the Miami Heat. The Sixers will need Embiid to punish Miami inside, as he did vs the Toronto Raptors.
In the first round, he averaged 26.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per game plus he was the primary protector of the Sixers’ defensive plan. The series vs Miami starts Monday for the Sixers, who entered the postseason with title aspiration.
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