In what’s been a first half to forget for the 76ers, their biggest star suffered yet another injury blow.
Joel Embiid, who exited Friday’s 121-107 loss to the Pacers after two quarters, was revealed to have suffered a sinus fracture.
The team said Embiid will be re-evaluated over the weekend.
A timeline to return is not yet clear.
In the waning seconds of the first half, the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin went up for a rebound to catch his own miss, and in doing so, unintentionally whacked Embiid in the face.
Embiid went down to the floor, eventually walking off with a towel covering his face.
He did not return to the game, finishing with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in 17 minutes.
This year started with Embiid dealing with a knee issue that kept him off the court until November.
He was also suspended three games for shoving a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist.
All told, he has suited up in just six games this year, and the 76ers have struggled, sitting in 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 7-16 record.
Embiid, in November, ripped his critics who have spoken out about his durability concerns.
He opened up about two previous orbital fractures and his April revelation that he was battling a mild case of Bell’s palsy.
“I’ve broken my face twice. I came back early with the risk of losing my vision,” Embiid told reporters on Friday. “…When I see people saying, he doesn’t want to play, I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that. I do think it’s bulls–t … I’ve done way too much for this f–king city to be treated like this.”
