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Tim Bontemps, ESPN
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid suffered a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg in Tuesday night’s game, the Sixers announced Thursday.
Embiid will be out through the rest of the weekend while treatment options for the injury continue to be explored. Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that there is still uncertainty over how Embiid and the 76ers will move forward with a treatment plan for the injury, and options will be discussed over the next several days.
After missing three games because of left knee soreness last month, Embiid sat out Saturday’s game in Denver and Monday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers because of the same issue. He then returned against Golden State on Tuesday night but appeared to labor on the knee throughout the game.
The injury occurred when Kuminga inadvertently fell on Embiid while going after a loose ball in the fourth quarter. Embiid eventually left the court under his own power. He and the Sixers have spent the past couple of days evaluating the injury and exploring potential options to treat it.
Embiid, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 35.3 points per game to go along with 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He scored 70 points last week against the San Antonio Spurs and currently has more points scored than minutes played this season — something only Wilt Chamberlain has done over the course of an entire season.
He already had been ruled out for Thursday night’s game in Utah, which will be the 13th game Embiid has missed. A player can miss no more than 17 games to be eligible for the league’s major honors, including MVP and All-NBA, as part of the league’s new player participation policy that was implemented this season.
Embiid was named an All-Star starter last week and presumably will now be replaced by NBA commissioner Adam Silver ahead of the game in Indianapolis later this month.
Source: www.espn.com