Joel Embiid suffered a nasty-looking dislocated finger in the 76ers’ win over the Thunder on Monday.
The follow-up diagnosis isn’t great, either.
Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
UPDATE: Joel Embiid will have surgery tomorrow in New York on his left hand, and he will be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks. https://t.co/VVKElicJL3
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 9, 2020
Embiid is the 76ers’ best player, maybe the NBA’s best center. This is a huge loss.
With an overhauled roster keyed by players who don’t seamlessly fit together, Philadelphia needs time to build chemistry. The fifth-place 76ers also want to climb in the standings – both to secure home-court advantage in more playoff rounds and avoid the mighty Bucks as long as possible.
This hurts both efforts.
How significantly? It depends when Embiid actually gets back on the court.