PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers suffered a bit of an injury scare at the end of the first half in Tuesday's 123-101 loss to the Boston Celtics as Joel Embiid took a hard fall. The big fella missed a layup and it appeared he slipped before limping back defensively and the half ended.
After the loss, Embiid confirmed the injury as an ankle issue and that he was OK.
"Yeah, it was an ankle turn," Embiid said. "I'm good (with a classic Embiid smirk)."
As far as his overall performance, Embiid struggled again with his efficiency. The big fella shot just 2-for-8 and he was 0-for-6 at halftime as the Celtics built their lead. One has to wonder about the next steps for him as he continues to get healthy and work his way back into a rhythm for Philadelphia.
"It's a work in progress," Embiid explained. "I think, yeah. I mean, it's just, I think the biggest thing is just not thinking. Probably overthinking it too much, and then the rhythm of the game is different. So yeah, so used to have to create for myself, so it's a little bit different. But I think, you know, slowly getting better."
To his credit, he made both of his only two shot attempts in the second half--including his first 3-pointer since Oct. 22--and he appeared to be in a groove a bit in the middle of it all as the Sixers looked to get back into the game. The big fella was looking to get himself going and that comes with touches, rhythm shots, and looking to get back into a different space than the one he's in right now.
"I think you can see it as soon as I made the 3, the next shot when I had in the short corner on the right side, I didn't even think about it," Embiid finished. "I just shot it and let it fly, and I made it. So, probably if I hadn’t made a three, it would’ve been in my mind, thought about it. So I think it’s just about taking what’s in front of you, make or miss, keep working on your game and it’s going to get there at some point."
The Sixers will play host to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday as they look to bounce back.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Joel Embiid addresses injury, shooting struggles after Sixers fall
