An MRI on Joel Embiid’s right thumb showed he has a torn ligament, according to 76ers coach Doc Rivers.
Embiid is expected to keep playing in the Sixers’ series against the Raptors, which continues with Game 5 on Monday night (8 at the Wells Fargo Center), though it sounds like he’ll eventually need surgery.
“There literally will be no change (on the court),” Rivers told reporters Sunday.
”I want to play,” Embiid said following Saturday’s 110-102 Game 4 loss in Toronto. ”I’d imagine that I (will) keep playing and probably do something after the season (surgery).”
Embiid said Saturday that the thumb bothers him the most when he rebounds, shoots free throws and passes the ball. He’s hoping the team’s medical staff can help him manage the pain as well as possible to allow him to keep playing at a high level as the Sixers, leading 3-1, try to close out the series.
The winner of this series faces the winner of the Heat-Hawks series that top-seeded Miami leads 3-1. How Embiid’s thumb holds up if the Sixers advance past Toronto could be a concern. He played with a brace on the wrist and thumb during the second half of Game 3, when the injury apparently occurred on a dunk, and again in Game 4.
Meanwhile, the officiating was a popular topic again following the Raptors’ victory Saturday.
After Toronto coach Nick Nurse was critical of the referees in the first two games of the opening-round playoff series for what he believes was permitting Embiid to be overly aggressive without penalty, Embiid told Nurse to “to stop (complaining) about calls” at the end of Game 2. Following Game 4, Embiid offered a sarcastic golf clap to the referees as he walked off the floor, then told the media he wasn’t going to complain about the officials before doing exactly that.
“Like I was doing at the end of the game, they did a great job,” Embiid said of the referees. “I admire the job that they did today. To me, it felt like they had one job coming in here tonight and they got it done, so congrats to them.”
Embiid’s frustration resulted in him bear hugging fellow Cameroonian Pascal Siakam and being assessed a technical foul with the Sixers trailing by 12 points and 3 minutes, 6 seconds remaining Saturday. Siakam, who scored a game-high 34 points to Embiid’s 20, called it “fake toughness.”
The officials called 26 personal fouls on the Sixers to 20 for the Raptors in Game 4, with Toronto holding a 35-25 edge in free throw attempts.
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The fouls and free throws were nearly identical in the Sixers’ Game 3 overtime victory, while the Sixers shot 64 free throws to the Raptors’ 35 in one-sided Game 1 and 2 home wins in which Toronto was called for more fouls (50 to 36).
The Sixers, especially Embiid and James Harden, have constantly been on the officials about calls and non-calls during this series.
“We for sure lost our cool on some of those calls,” said forward Tobias Harris. “We got to eliminate pushing our energy up toward that and just play ball.”
Rivers agreed the Sixers sometimes let the officials affect what they did on the court Saturday, only to add, “We’re not going to sit here and complain … like they do.”
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes; @TomMoorePhilly
