According to nba.com on Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers will be without star center Joel Embiid for a full month with a knee injury. The specific injury is an issue with his left lateral meniscus, which was seen in a MRI.
Embiid suffered the injury a week ago, in a 119-107 76ers loss to the Golden State Warriors. He played 29 minutes and 48 seconds in the contest, but what was the most staggering statistic was how weak Embiid was defensively. He was a -21.
We know how much of a difference maker Embiid can be to the 76ers. The bottom line is he is without a doubt the face of the franchise. Sure, the 76ers have seen some greatness from guard Tyrese Maxey of Dallas, Texas, but a very telling statistic is the fact that the 76ers are 26 wins and eight losses with Embiid, and four wins and 11 losses without Embiid.
The value of Embiid is significant. When Nick Nurse came to Philadelphia to be the head coach, one of his most noteworthy challenges was to put a winning game plan together when Embiid was not in the lineup. Well so far he has not had much success.
In 34 games this season, Embiid is averaging 35.3 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game, 5.7 assists per game, 1.8 blocks per game, and 1.1 steals per game. He also has a field goal percentage of .533, three-point percentage of .366, and a free throw percentage of .883. Next up for Philadelphia is another tilt against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. This time in the Cheesesteak City.
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