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UPDATE: Embiid is now set to undergo hand surgery and will be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday.
Sixers center Joel Embiid will have surgery on left hand tomorrow and be re-evaluted in one to two weeks, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 9, 2020
UPDATE: Jan. 9, 5:17 p.m. — Embiid has been diagnosed with torn ligaments in his finger on his left hand and has no timetable for a return.
Joel Embiid suffered a torn collateral ligament in his finger on his left hand. He’s currently evaluating treatment options. No timetable on his return, the 76ers just announced
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) January 9, 2020
This is bad news for the Sixers, especially considering they allowed Embiid to return to Monday’s game despite dislocating his finger early in the contest. Now, it looks like Embiid is going to miss extended time, which means the Sixers’ frontcourt will be thin as a result. Thursday against the Celtics they’ll likely start Al Horford at center and Tobias Harris at PF, though Matisse Thybulle coming back means the rookie should see increased playing time right away.
#Sixers coach Brett Brown: Defense likely to take the biggest hit without Joel Embiid. Other end of floor, too. ‘It’s massive.’
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) January 9, 2020
UPDATE: Jan. 8, 12:36 p.m. — Embiid has been ruled out for Thursday’s game vs. the Boston Celtics and the big man is set to see a specialist after dislocating his finger on Monday.
Embiid is out tomorrow. Currently seeing specialist.
— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) January 8, 2020
Thybulle back tomorrow night.
Matisse Thybulle will be able to return to the lineup for the Sixers, but the loss of Embiid for a huge game against the Celtics is tough. With Embiid out, we should see Al Horford slide over to center and Mike Scott potentially starting in the frontcourt at PF. We also could see Furkan Korkmaz start with Tobias Harris moving to the 4. Either way, Horford is in a revenge game against Boston and should see plenty more touches on offense.
UPDATE: Jan. 7, 1:09 p.m. — Embiid missed practice Tuesday after dislocating his finger in Monday’s win over the Thunder.
Joel Embiid (who dislocated his finger last night) is not at the Sixers practice facility today. He is undergoing further testing off-site.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 7, 2020
Embiid was able to finish Monday’s game, but apparently will go for further testing on the finger. It was odd the Sixers weren’t more careful with Embiid’s finger last night, holding the center out rather than letting him play through the injury. Now we’ll see if Embiid is expected to miss any games.
UPDATE: In case you wanted a nastier point of view of the dislocation, here’s a video:
Embiid’s finger!! pic.twitter.com/kNOU0T5Dhb
— Casey Keirnan (@CaseyKeirnan) January 7, 2020
Embiid has now played 14 minutes in the game, seven since dislocating his finger. He’s up to six points with five rebounds and three assists on the night. It’ll be tough for him to return fantasy basketball value at this point, but the fact he isn’t seriously hurt is encouraging.
Philadelphia 76ers C Joel Embiid was forced to go to the locker room early in Monday’s game vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder after mangling his finger. Here’s a picture, PROCEED WITH CAUTION:
Joel Embiid's finger looks weird pic.twitter.com/EBLdVw7bQu
— trey burke sports fan (@legsanity) January 7, 2020
Luckily it doesn’t appear to be serious and Embiid was able to return to the game, but that picture looks pretty rough. Chances are they just threw the finger back into place, secured it and let Embiid get back into action. He only played seven minutes in the first quarter and scored two points with three rebounds.
The Sixers confirmed that Embiid dislocated his finger and they taped it up, so he’s back in the game.
Joel Embiid has a dislocated finger. He was treated and taped, thus his returning to the game.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) January 7, 2020