Joel Embiid, named Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, will suit up for the Philadelphia 76ers and start Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
After a productive morning shootaround on Wednesday and a subsequent workout, after the team got to TD Garden in the afternoon, Embiid was given the all-clear to play in the game that night.
Embiid said at a morning press conference to announce receiving the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award that he would need to monitor how his injured right knee felt before the game on Wednesday night when the Sixers would attempt to grab a 2-0 lead over the Celtics. He was only awaiting the all-clear from the squad’s medical staff and the personnel in charge of training the team.
Embiid sustained his injury in Game 3 of the 76ers’ first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. As a result, he could not play in the 76ers’ Game 4 victory on April 22, which was the game that ultimately decided the series. Additionally, he did not play for the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics, which resulted in a 119-115 victory for the 76ers.
The Sixers are excited to have Embiid back in their starting lineup after he missed some time with an injury. On Tuesday, he was awarded the Kia Most Valuable Player award and has been the driving force behind Philadelphia’s success throughout the season.
Cameroonian center Joel Embiid, now 29 years old and hails from Cameroon, won the scoring championship for the second year in a row with an average of 33.1 points per game this past season. In addition to that, he pulled down an average of 10.2 rebounds per game and equaled a career-best with 4.2 assists per contest. He participated in 66 games, the second-highest number of games he has played in his career.
Embiid missed two games in the East semifinals of the 2022 playoffs and one game in the first round of the 2021 playoffs due to different ailments. This is in addition to the two games he missed at the beginning of the 2018 playoffs due to an orbital fracture and one game he missed in 2019 due to a knee issue.
During this season, he played the Celtics four times and finished with a point and rebound average of 36.8 and 11.8, respectively.
