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Tim BontempsESPN
The Philadelphia 76ers were without All-Star center Joel Embiid Sunday night against the Indiana Pacers due to lingering back tightness in the wake of taking a hard fall against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
“I don’t know if he took a step backwards,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said after Embiid was ruled out Sunday after finishing with 37 points and 11 rebounds in a dominant effort in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday. “[He’s] just still sore from the fall.”
Embiid had been dealing with back issues on and off for a while heading into Wednesday’s win against the Lakers, but he took a hard fall after being fouled by LeBron James in the third quarter of that game, a play for which James was assessed a level one flagrant foul.
After the game, Embiid called the play “dangerous” and said he felt James should’ve gotten a flagrant two, which would’ve resulted in an ejection.
Embiid has been an MVP candidate this season, averaging 28.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. The Sixers, who entered Sunday’s game with the Eastern Conference’s best record of 14-6, have gone 14-2 with Embiid but are 0-4 without him.
Though one of those games came against the Denver Nuggets when Philadelphia had only seven healthy players because of a raft of absences due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the other three came against lesser opponents — the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons — and with both Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris healthy.
“A win,” Rivers said when asked what he wants to see from his team against the Pacers with Embiid once again sitting out. “I mean, really. You got to win games without Joel. We haven’t done that.
“We haven’t played well. Forget the winning part. Yeah, I feel like [Hall of Fame NFL coach] Dick Vermeil right now. We haven’t even played well without him, you know? … And we’re going to have to.”