76ers' Joel Embiid Limps Off Floor with Injury Scare vs. Celtics

Questioning Joel Embiid‘s toughness is objectively wrong at this point.

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Embiid third overall in 2014, but a fractured navicular bone delayed his NBA debut until the 2016-17 season. Across his All-NBA, All-Star, and 2023 NBA MVP career, Embiid has suffered a torn meniscus, a Bell’s palsy diagnosis, and several facial fractures. Not to mention the nagging ankle and knee ailments he’s played through, including this season.

Embiid underwent an emergency appendectomy on April 9, which sidelined him until Game 4 of the 76ers’ first-round Eastern Conference playoffs series against the Boston Celtics last Sunday.

Embiid led the team in scoring (26 points), rebounds (10), and assists (6) in his return, but the 76ers lost 128-96 to go down 3-1 in the series. With the 76ers’ backs against the wall in Game 5 on Tuesday night, Embiid carried the 76ers again.

It was an especially valiant effort because Embiid had yet another injury scare late in the third quarter.

With under five minutes to play in the third, Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown made contact with Embiid’s knee in the lane, and Embiid immediately began limping. He exited the game and went to the locker room, and given Embiid’s history, it felt ominous.

But Embiid only missed two minutes and 35 seconds of game time before re-entering the game and spearheading the 76ers’ second-half comeback to beat Boston 113-97 to stave off elimination.

Embiid finished with a game-high 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the floor (0-for-5 from three) along with eight assists, four rebounds, and one block in 39 minutes.

Embiid spoke with ESPN’s Lisa Salters on the floor immediately after the final buzzer.

“Using this game, last game, to kind of get back into it, I found my rhythm in the second half,” Embiid said on the ESPN broadcast. “We adjusted some stuff at halftime, but I feel OK. I feel good. We got a win. That’s all that matters.”

When Salters asked Embiid what he had left to give in Game 6 to force a Game 7, he said, in part, “We don’t have a choice. Do the same thing we did tonight.”

The series will return to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Thursday.

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 6:44 PM.