By Jerry Wein
Joel Embiid (right thumb) shot 7-of-16 from the field and 7-of-9 from the foul line in the 110-102 loss to the Raptors, scoring 21 points with eight rebounds, and three assists in 39 minutes.
It was clear that the injury is having an impact on the MVP candidate, who was seen grimacing and grabbing at his hand on multiple occasions.
Also of note has been Toronto’s change to how it doubled Embiid.
After primarily sending over a second man on the catch, which gave Embiid more time to survey the defense and hit the open man, the Raptors are now waiting until Embiid dribbles to send over help.
He’s racked up 15 turnovers in the last three games after not committing any in Game 1. Is that due to the thumb injury, Toronto’s defensive adjustment, or both? We’ll see how Embiid adjusts (and the results of his MRI) when the series moves back to Philadelphia for Game 5 on Monday.
And he blithely golf-clapped the horrible refs after the game:
“I’m going to take my own advice and not complain about fouls. Like I was doing at the end of the game, they did a great job. To me, it felt like they had one job, and they got it done. Congrats to them” ?
-Joel Embiid ?? to the refs ?
pic.twitter.com/tZF2s4heUt— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 23, 2022
