Joel Embiid Suffers Sinus Fracture in Sixers' Loss to Pacers

Sixers star Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture in Friday's loss to the Indiana Pacers, according to a team official.

Embiid will be evaluated further this weekend and his status will be updated as appropriate.

The injury occurred late in the second quarter, Bennedict Mathurin crashing into Embiid in pursuit of an offensive rebound and his arm making impact with the right side of the big man's face.

Embiid promptly fell to the floor along the baseline, clutching his face and rolling in discomfort. After a few moments, he got up and walked off the court under his own power, holding a towel to his face as he immediately made his way to the locker room.

That was the last we saw Embiid on Friday night.

He never came out for warmups ahead of the third quarter. He was replaced by rookie guard Jared McCain in the starting lineup, Guerschon Yabusele scaling up to the center position to begin the third quarter.

After a few minutes of game time passed, the Sixers issued an update: Embiid would not return to the game due to an impact to the right side of his face. He would be undergoing further testing, they added.

About 20 minutes after the final buzzer, Nick Nurse and team staffers entered the press room for his usual postgame media availability. Then, the following line of questioning ensued:

Reporter 1: Nick, what's the latest on Joel?

Nurse: Let's see. He's still getting tested, right? Yeah, hit the face. So, he's getting tested on that. Update you when we got something, yeah.

Reporter 2: Has he gone for x-rays?

Team staffer 1: Still being looked at right now.

Reporter 3: You're saying 'the face'. Is it near the orbital bone, like cheek bone, where-

Team staffer 2: He's having the entire face section checked to make sure there were no fractures.

Reporter 3: Where did he get hit in the face, though?

Team staffer 2: Right near the cheek bone.

Nurse (concurrently with Team staffer 2): His cheek, yeah.

Then, at 11 p.m., Eastern time, a team official told reporters of the diagnosis - a sinus fracture.

At a human level, you would have to be heartless to not feel for Embiid to some degree. Just as it seems like his ailing knee is starting to cooperate, he breaks a bone in his face for a third(!!) time. And on another freak play, no less.

At a basketball level, it's ostensibly the latest setback for a team that has experienced almost nothing but frustrating setbacks all season long. The injury bug obviously isn't anyone's fault. But, the Sixers felt good about their week of practice. They built their playbook a little further. And that progress was threatened less than one whole half into the first game they played in four days.

"Yeah, man. It's just, you know, one of those things. It's like basketball, man. You know, it's not an individual sport. It's a team sport. So, we line our guys up against the other team, and it's different," Kelly Oubre Jr. said of the frustration that builds when a core teammate suffers another injury just as the team is looking healthier.

"So, we just have to kind of dig a little deeper within ourselves and keep the foundation right. Keep just talking to each other, making sure that we express whatever we're feeling within house and just get over it. Coach is a big guy who just likes to figure it out. It's not easy. But, at the end of the day, being in the NBA isn't easy. So, we got to just dig a little deeper and figure out how to get that rhythm and flow no matter who's on the court."

As for what comes next, the type of sinus fracture seems to matter a great deal. 

For example, the Malaysian Journal of Movement Health & Exercise estimates that a return to sport could take at least three weeks. However, their case is based on a hockey player who had a "history of accidentally being directly hit by a hockey stick on the forehead". Embiid has suffered his fair share of injuries, but I don't think he's taken hockey sticks to the forehead. 

Furthermore, that case assumes a fractured frontal sinus. We don't have the specifics of the sinus bone Embiid fractured yet, and humans have four different sinus bones.

Jeff Stotts, who has a database that extensively tracks athlete injuries, offered a more encouraging timeline:

Re: Joel Embiid: Sinus fractures are commonly associated with/ nasal & orbital fractures. The exact sinus broken &  subsequent treatment will dictate recovery. Courtney Lee suffered a sinus fracture during the 2009 playoffs & returned in 10 days, 8 days after surgery.

— Jeff Stotts (@instreetclothes.bsky.social) December 14, 2024 at 12:53 AM

To add insult to injury, Jared McCain was wobbly upon standing up from a hard fall in the third quarter. He was forced out of the game and did not take his free throws. Normally, a player would be disqualified for the remainder of the game if they left with injury and were unable to shoot free throws (if the injury occurred on a foul that rewarded free throws). But, in the case of a concussion event, the player can return - even if they did not take their free throws - as long as they clear concussion protocol.

A few minutes later, McCain returned to the game. Per a team official, McCain was assessed for a concussion and cleared to return.

But, Nurse didn't exactly silence skepticism that all was good with the rookie sensation.

"He said he was OK. I mean, obviously, they're not going to let him back in there if he's not. He said he felt OK. I mean, you guys saw him. He was a little wobbly there when he got up, but he said he was feeling OK, which is why we stuck with him. I'm not sure that he was," Nurse said after the game. 

"He's a really tough dude, as you guys know as well. So, he might be able to tolerate a little bit more. Hopefully, he'll be OK in the morning when he wakes up."

I'm not a meteorologist, but a sky that seemed clearer just a few days ago is starting to darken again.