Embiid ‘enjoys these moments,’ pain and all, provides a signature playoff performance

Embiid ‘enjoys these moments,’ pain and all, provides a signature playoff performance originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

BOSTON — There’s a tall tale, Mad Libs nature to Joel Embiid’s injury history. A snake bit him somewhere along the way and just kept biting.

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Embiid’s perspective on it all is telling. As he shared following a season-saving 33-point, eight-assist night Tuesday in the Sixers’ Game 5 win at TD Garden over the Celtics, Embiid is guided by a desire to play.

That’s it, really.

“The one thing about me is I’ve dealt with a lot of stuff over my career,” Embiid said after the Sixers trimmed their first-round playoff series deficit to 3-2. “I don’t complain. I just want to give as much as I can every single time I step on the floor. I know a lot of people might have takes that I might be lazy or whatever, but every single time I’m on the floor, I want to play as hard as possible. I want to do whatever it takes to win a basketball game, whether it’s on offense, on defense.

“I just want to play basketball, whether (or not) I’m in good shape physically, mentally or whatever. I just want to enjoy these moments being part of a basketball team that’s trying to accomplish something, and that’s to win every single game.”

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Embiid’s norm of playing through pain and discomfort popped up again in Game 5. He added an injury scare to his infinite list when he exited with a limp in the third quarter, but Embiid only missed a little under three minutes of action. Jaylen Brown appeared to inadvertently bump Embiid’s knee after driving and pump faking inside.

“I just heard that he kind of banged knees with somebody,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “Knee on knee contact.”

Asked about the moment, Embiid gave a straight-faced reply: “I’m good.”

So … what happened?

“I don’t remember,” he said with a bit of a mischievous grin.

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Postseason health trouble is habitual for Embiid. Right knee; left knee; orbital fractures; concussions; Bell’s Palsy; gastroenteritis; appendicitis. While not immune to pain, he must have his own…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/embiid-enjoys-moments-pain-provides-070347988.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-29 07:03:00

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