BOSTON — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid told his teammates, "I'm back," upon accepting the NBA's Most Valuable Player award on Tuesday night, but 24 hours later, the feels flipped from uplifting to concerning over the course of a blowout Game 2 loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Two weeks removed from spraining the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee during the first round of the playoffs, Embiid scored just 15 points on 9 shot attempts and added 3 rebounds, all well less than half his regular season averages, in the 121-87 loss to a Celtics team the Sixers beat without him in Monday's Game 1.