It was a rough night for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Joel Embiid injured his left knee in the final minutes of the the 76ers’ 119-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night in San Francisco.
Embiid, who had just 14 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes, suffered the injury with just over four minutes left.
The 29-year-old center was stripped by Jonathan Kuminga while backing down Draymond Green. Both players dove for the loose ball and Kuminga landed on the Embiid’s left leg, just below the center knee.
Embiid, the defending NBA MVP, was in visible agony as he immediately clutched his knee.
Though he was able to exit the court under his own power, he did not return.
“So he obviously got landed on, so they’re going to do an MRI (exam) tonight or tomorrow,” Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said after the game.
Nurse also said the injury is unrelated to what’s held him out recently.
Despite Nurse’s assertion, Embiid recently has been battling a left knee issue before this latest collision.
In the first half, he walked slowlyt to the locker room with a wrap on the knee after shooting 1-for-7 in 10 minutes in the first quarter.
119-107 loss to the Warriors. @BleacherReport / X
The 76ers star also did not play in Saturday’s much-anticipated showdown against Nikola Jokić and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
After Embiid went through his regular pregame warmup, Nurse said the team’s medical staff “just didn’t like what they saw” and decided it was safer to have Embiid sit out Saturday’s showdown.
Throughout that game, Embiid was seen wearing a large wrap around his left knee.
He also missed the 76ers’ following game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Adding insult to Embiid’s injury was the fact the 76ers (29-17) fell into the No. 5 spot in the NBA Eastern Conference behind the red-hot New York Knicks (31-17) who moved into the third spot and the Cleveland Cavaliers (28-16), now in fourth.
Stephen Curry scored 37 points with eight 3-pointers and Kuminga added 26 points to lead the Warriors (20-24).