Embiid blow to Sixers' hopes against Miami

MIAMI • The upcoming National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference semi-finals between the top-seeded Miami Heat and the fourth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers had been shaping up to be an even contest.

But the odds have now been significantly tipped in favour of the Heat, the 2020 NBA finalists, after the Sixers' best player, Joel Embiid, was on Friday ruled out indefinitely with a fractured right orbital bone and a mild concussion.

He reportedly got hurt in their series-clinching Game 6 win against the hosts Toronto Raptors on Thursday, when Pascal Siakam caught him in the face with an elbow on a drive to the basket.

Despite playing with torn ligaments in his thumb, the hulking Cameroonian centre, the front runner for this season's Most Valuable Player award, was the primary reason why his team dispatched the Raptors in the first round of the East play-offs.

In six games, the five-time All-Star averaged 26.2 points and 11.4 rebounds and sank the buzzer-beating three to win Game 3. During the regular season, the 28-year-old averaged a league-leading 30.6 points and 11.7 boards and his absence will be a massive blow as the Sixers have no replacement for his presence in the paint.

This is the second time Embiid has suffered an orbital fracture and concussion. In 2018, he was ruled out for three weeks and when he returned, he had to play wearing a protective mask.

A similar spell on the sidelines will rule him out not only for the rest of the series, but also part of the Conference Finals, which Philadelphia are hoping to make for the first time since 2001, when NBA great Allen Iverson was their marquee player.

REUTERS