Joel Embiid out with knee soreness; Korkmaz torn meniscus

Philadelphia 76ers’ star Joel Embiid will miss some time with knee soreness. According to head coach Brett Brown, the two-time All-Star, who played in Sunday’s contest had an MRI yesterday, courtesy of Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Apparently there was no structural damage but it may be some “tendinitis” which coach Brown said is fairly common.

Embiid raised eyebrows when he lept into the stands in a game against the New York Knicks last week. He then participated in the All-Star game. It’s unclear if there was a moment an injury was sustained although it did not appear that way while watching his recent play.

Coach Brown indicated that while him playing in the recreational game is an obvious connection for people to make, it’s not what he thinks caused the soreness.

He also noted, per Pompey, that sometimes time off can lead to core strength issues that may exacerbate something like this.

The best news is that there is no structural damage, and it remains to be seen how much time the MVP candidate will miss.

According to Derek Bodner of The Athletic, Embiid has dealt with soreness in the same knee earlier this season:

It was also revealed that Turkish rotational guard Furkan Korkmaz has a torn meniscus, per Serena Winters of NBC Philadelphia. Korkmaz sustained the injury against the Boston Celtics a week ago yesterday.

The pair of injuries will make life more difficult for Philadelphia during the home stretch of the season. With 24 games to go, they have some big challenges ahead in the near term with contests against Portland, Oklahoma, Golden State and Houston on the horizon.

They host the Miami Heat tomorrow at home.