Philadelphia 76ers defeats Oklahoma City Thunder as Joel Embiid makes his return

On Tuesday Philadelphia 76ers defeated Oklahoma City Thunder 109-105 as Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 25 points and Joel Embiid scored 24 points in the fourth quarter. This was a comeback match for Joel Embiid who was injured and had surgery on the left meniscus. He hasn’t played since January 30. He suffered a knee injury during the Golden State Warriors game.

Before the injury, he had 35.3 points per game, 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists. In the match against Oklahoma City Thunder, he got 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. He also scored six rebounds and gave seven assists and three steals. When the Philadelphia 76ers were leading 36-25 against Oklahoma City Thunder he got 10 points in the further quarter. 

Joel Embiid stated that a month's gap due to injury was mentally hard for him.  "This one took a toll mentally. I just wanted to come back," Embiid said.

Philadelphia 76ers miss the presence of Joel Embiid

When only 7:25 minutes were left Philadelphia 76ers were 11 points behind as Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 3 points which was a comeback for the team. Later Joel Embiid scored two points to take the lead 106-105 and again added two more points to make it 108-105. He also made 12 foul shots in the game.

He was not available at the Philadelphia 76ers, because of which he lost 18 games out of 30 and is now in the 8th position in the Eastern Conference. Oklahoma City Thunder's loss was just their third in ten games. Chet Holmgren paced the Thunder with 22 points, while Luguentz Dort and Aaron Wiggins contributed 15 each. Jaylin Williams recorded a career-high 12 assists.

On Wednesday Oklahoma City Thunder will now face Boston Celtics while Philadelphia 76ers will take on Miami Heat on Thursday.