Joel Embiid Suffers Shoulder Injury Against the Cavaliers

Joel Embiid left the 76ers’ 108-94 road loss against the Cavaliers on Thursday with a shoulder injury. He went from the locker room to the bench and then left for the locker room again and was not able to come back.

Embiid collided with Ante Zizic in the first half and experienced pain. The star center scored just three points and one block in eight minutes. This came after he set a career-high 49 points and grabbed 14 points in a 129-112 home win against the Hawks last Monday.

According to former NFL head team doctor David J. Chao: “Is there something in the Philadelphia water? Limited video does not give impression of significant/long term or surgical issue for left shoulder. Holding high pectoral area.”

Embiid was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday morning. Initial tests on Wednesday night did not show a fracture.

Philadelphia 76ers fans hope that Embiid’s injury isn’t a long-term issue, considering that they’re already without All-Star point guard Ben Simmons. Another surgery for Embiid would pretty much doom the 76ers for the rest of the season.

Many NBA insiders expect the 76ers to trade either Embiid or Simmons in the offseason if the team doesn’t make a deep playoff run. Both players do their damage in the post since Simmons still refuses to shoot 3-pointers (he is 2-for-6

from beyond the arc this season) and the 76ers lack floor spacing when they are on the court together. The 76ers have been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in two straight years and head coach Brett Brown’s job is in danger

if they don’t make it to the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals.