Joel Embiid will not play in Game 4 of the first-round series between the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets on Saturday due to a sprained knee, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne. The MVP candidate underwent an MRI after Game 3 which revealed the injury.
In the middle of the third quarter of Game 3, Embiid went up to contest a drive by Cameron Johnson and took an awkward fall next to the basket stanchion. He stayed on the ground for a brief period and when he got to his feet he was clutching at his knee and flexing it. He remained in, however, and played the rest of the game.
Neither Embiid nor the Sixers were at their best in Game 3. The big man was involved in a bizarre incident in the first quarter where he kicked at Nic Claxton and was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul, and finished with just 14 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-13 from the field. Still, the Sixers were able to grind out a 102-97 win to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
That gives them the ability to play it safe with Embiid, and they should be able to win the series without him at this point. However, this is now a real concern moving forward, especially if they end up facing the Boston Celtics in the second round. While Embiid could reportedly be ready to return by next week, there's no guarantee he'll be at 100 percent by that point.
This is, unfortunately, just the latest playoff injury for Embiid, who has struggled to stay healthy at this point of the season throughout his career. In the 2019 playoffs he dealt with a knee injury that kept him out for a game; in 2021 he suffered a torn meniscus that, though it only kept him out of one game, limited him at points; in 2022 he had a torn ligament in his thumb as well as a concussion and broken orbital bone, all of which held him out of two games and impacted his performance in others.
