The Philadelphia 76ers could face a fine for revealing Joel Embiid’s injury prior to the Oklahoma City Thunder game.
The Philadelphia 76ers were overjoyed to have All-Star center Joel Embiid back in the lineup on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, the events building up to the big man’s first game back since late January could get the Sixers into trouble.
According to NBA on TNT’s Jared Greenberg, the NBA is “expected” to look into how the Sixers reported Embiid’s ailment.
While there was much anticipation that Embiid might return on Tuesday against the Thunder days before the game, the Sixers designated the big man as out on Monday afternoon.
When the Sixers took the court for a Tuesday morning shootaround, they verified that Embiid was not present. At that moment, it appeared certain that Embiid’s homecoming would be pushed back.
That would not be the case.
Just a few hours before the Sixers and Thunder faced off, the Sixers upgraded Embiid to questionable after the 5:30 PM ET injury report was posted. At the time, Embiid was going through a pregame exercise to determine his official status.
Following another fast session, Embiid determined his knee was fit for competition. After undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus problem in February, Embiid was officially declared available at 7:00 PM on Tuesday.
As expected, the Sixers restricted Embiid’s minutes. He played in short bursts, accumulating less than 30 minutes on the court. During that period, Embiid took 14 shots from the field, making nearly half of them.
Embiid went a perfect 12-for-12 from the foul line. He finished second in scoring for the Sixers, with 24 points. In addition to scoring, the big man had six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.
The Sixers defeated the Western Conference’s top-seeded Thunder, 109-105.
Tuesday’s victory was a solid one for the Sixers, who improved to 41-35 on the season, but it may come at a cost given to how Embiid’s return to action unfolded.
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