Boban Marjanovic to have MRI on right knee

In Monday evening’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Philadelphia 76ers’ newly acquired big man Boban Marjanovic suffered an injury when Cheick Diallo of the Pelicans fell onto the back of Marjanovic’s right knee. Boban left the game, and did not return.

According to ESPN, Marjanovic will undergo an MRI today to evaluate the extent of the injury:

But Marjanovic’s right leg got tangled up between Pelicans forward Cheick Diallo’s legs, and both players crashed to the court after pursuing a rebound with just over a minute left. Marjanovic needed assistance getting off the court and later used crutches to get the team bus.

Shortly after Sixers coach Brett Brown sought out Marjanovic in the trainer’s room, a team spokesman said the injury would be further evaluated on Tuesday, when an MRI was scheduled.

Even without information from an MRI, this is a concerning development for the Sixers as it comes with unfortunate timing. They’re already razor-thin on depth at center, with Joel Embiid absent due to his own knee issues, Amir Johnson having turned player-coach (he’s played in just five of the team’s last 24 games despite being healthy), and Jonah Bolden stuck in a revolving door that goes in and out of Brett Brown’s dog house.

For the sake of our beloved Boban, Sixers fans everywhere will be hoping today’s MRI turns up encouraging results. In the meantime, if the Sixers are to be without Marjanovic’s services for any amount of games, Brett Brown may be forced to rely on small-ball lineups for extended periods.

UPDATE: Good news! Literally the second after I published this post, our Liberty Ballers Slack chat pinged, and Dave Early provided the encouraging news that Boban’s MRI came back negative, determining that no serious injury occurred. The report comes from a Serbian website called B92, with the translation provided below via Sports Radio 94.1 WIP:

An MRI on Boban Marjanović’s right knee came back negative and “showed that there was no fracture and that it was not a serious injury,” according to the Serbian website B92.net. Marjanović’s agent, Miško Ražnatović, does not expect Marjanović to miss much time, the report says.