As the Sixers walked out from the locker room to start the second half Friday, Joel Embiid was ominously not among them.
The Sixers ruled Embiid out in the third quarter for the rest of their loss to the Pacers. Late Friday night, a team official said Embiid suffered a sinus fracture against Indiana and will be further evaluated this weekend.
After taking an inadvertent hit to right side of his face from Pacers shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, Embiid exited the game with 6.5 seconds remaining in the second quarter. As he pursued his own miss inside, Mathurin’s arm hit Embiid’s face. The seven-time All-Star stayed down on the floor for a couple of minutes and went back to the locker room with a towel pressed against his face.
Embiid has been hampered by a troublesome left knee to start this season and missed 17 of the Sixers’ first 23 games. He has a history of facial injuries, suffering a left orbital fracture in 2018 and a right orbital fracture in 2022.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
The 7-16 Sixers began the night without Caleb Martin (right shoulder impingement), Kyle Lowry (lower back spasms) and Adem Bona (left knee tendinopathy). Their Big 3 of Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey has played just one full game together so far.
The team is now 1-5 with its cornerstone big man, who's certainly no stranger to injury misfortune.
This story will be updated.
