Joel Embiid leaves 76ers’ loss with sinus fracture, will be evaluated this weekend

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture when he was punched in the face while going for a defensive rebound late in the first half of the Philadelphia 76ers’ loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.

Embiid battled Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin when he caught an errant forearm and elbow to the bridge of the nose. Embiid crumpled to the ground as the game continued up the floor and stayed down near the Philadelphia bench, holding his face.

Embiid left the Wells Fargo Center for evaluation, where the 76ers later announced the sinus fracture. The team said he will be further evaluated this weekend.

Embiid had 12 points, four rebounds and five assists in 17 1/2 minutes in Philadelphia’s 121-107 loss to the Pacers.

Embiid played in just his sixth game out of 23 Philadelphia has played. He has been bothered by swelling in his left knee and also served a three-game suspension for a physical incident with a reporter.

Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George — billed as Philadelphia’s “Big Three” after George’s offseason arrival — have only played parts of three games together. The Sixers are 7-16 on the season.

“You just have to go ahead and practice when we practice again and have a next-man-up mentality,” said Maxey, who led Philadelphia with 22 points. “The sad thing about this is that we were moving in the right direction. The boys figured out roles, what the coach wants from them and played the right way. We know how to play with Joel – and now we might have to turn back to playing without him. It’s different. That’s life.”

Embiid has also had a number of facial injuries, including an orbital bone fracture after a collision with Toronto’s Pascal Siakam during the 2022 playoffs and one in 2018 after colliding with teammate Markelle Fultz. Last year Embiid had Bell’s Palsy during a first round playoff loss to New York.

Embiid told ESPN after Sunday’s win in Chicago that his problems with his left knee this season were “depressing” because of the swelling unrelated to an injury. It was Philadelphia’s last game before Friday.

“He’s been in a really good place all week and he’s been practicing all week,” coach Nick Nurse said when asked about Embiid’s state of mind. “We did a lot of things to get him up to speed. But I imagine he can feel that black cloud over him a little bit. He just keeps running into something, really, unfortunately.”