After dealing with well-documented knee issues for some time, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid finally returned in their victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Better than that, he looked more like his old self. On the night, he put up 31 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 13 of 28 from the field. After the Sixers beat the Bulls, Embiid talked about what it’s been like to deal with his rampant knee issues.
“Depressing,” Embiid told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Just trying to figure it out. There’s no injury. Just between the swelling … we’ve got to get it figured out. That’s it.”
“I’ve been saying it for the last few months. It’s been extremely depressing. It’s something that hasn’t been figured out, and it’s been extremely annoying because I would love to play every single game,” Embiid concluded.
Earlier, Embiid’s knee issues proved to be problematic, as he looked like a shell of himself when he took the floor before the Sixers’ game against the Bulls. Him looking like his old self is a very good sign for the Sixers moving forward.
The Sixers path back to the playoff picture isn’t too hard
The Sixers have started to pick things up a bit. At 7-15, they’ve now vaulted themselves up to the No. 12 seed in the Eastern Conference. Beating the Bulls specifically puts them a game and a half behind them for the No. 10 seed.
Getting back into the play-in picture won’t be a big hurdle for the Sixers. However, hoping to get into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race is a different story.
Hoping to catch the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics may be a fool’s errand, but catching the Orlando Magic or New York Knicks might not be unreasonable.
Maybe that’s a little too optimistic, but the Sixers are finally getting healthy, so things are starting to look up. As long as Embiid can play, and his knee isn’t in too rough a shape, the season is far from over for them.
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