Philadelphia 76ers play Joel Embiid for hyperextensive knee MRI

Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid will undergo an MRI after extending his left knee in Friday night’s 127-101 victory over the Washington Wizards, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski

Embiid was in the middle of the latest dominant performance of his MVP season, scoring 23 points in the 8-for-11 shot to go along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in 20 minutes when he caught a pass from Tobias Harris and flew to make a dunk to give Philadelphia an 80-60 lead with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

But as Embiid went to the ground after the dive, all his body weight landed on his left leg – causing him to stretch, sending him to the ground and causing him to wriggle in a ton of pain.

After standing for a few minutes, Embiid finally got up and left under his own power – albeit with a rather sharp limp – as he returned directly to the locker room of visitors to the Washington Capital One Arena.

Embiid is expected to undergo an MRI once the team returns to Philadelphia, sources said.

Embiid had an equally frightening situation last month, when he hyperextended his right knee in an awkward fall against the Portland Trail Blazers after blocking an Enes Kanter stretch. In that game, Embiid returned a few minutes later and dominated, scoring 31 points in the first half in a game that Philadelphia eventually lost.

Philadelphia recaptured Embiid on Friday night after he and Ben Simmons missed Thursday’s Chicago victory over the Bulls – as well as Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta – due to tracking contacts from a barber visited by both. stars before heading to Atlanta.

Simmons remained on Friday, but was expected to return – assuming he has not tested positive for COVID-19 before – for Sunday’s Philadelphia game against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Sixers remained at the top of the Eastern Conference victory on Friday, moving a full game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets, second.