Mitchell Robinson exits 76ers arena in walking boot after Bell's Palsy victim Joel Embiid's flagrant foul
Mitchell Robinson exited MSG with a walking boot on his leg after "Bell's Palsy" victim Joel Embiid's flagrant foul against the Knicks center. During the first half of the game, Embiid grabbed Robinson's right leg, causing him to fall on the floor. Robinson had the boot on his left leg.
He exited the game with a left ankle sprain after the first half. Robinson fell to the floor after Embiid fouled him, and he seemingly landed badly. While there's no official confirmation if that play led to Robinson's injury, it may have contributed to the Knicks' big man's ailing ankle. He was on the injury report, listed as questionable for the same.
Robinson may have aggravated the injury. It's also the same ankle that needed surgery in December, forcing Robinson to miss nearly four months of action.
Meanwhile, Joel Embiid was also in the news for a health issue. Apart from the left knee injury recovery, Embiid is dealing with Bell's Palsy condition, which causes sudden weakness in one side of the face. Embiid hasn't been able to move his left eye or mouth.
Joel Embiid cites protecting himself when asked about flagrant foul on Mitchell Robinson
Joel Embiid was under the scanner for the non-basketball play against Mitchell Robinson. That latter could have been seriously injured in that particular incident with how Embiid grabbed his leg, leading to a bad landing. Embiid, however, claimed he was trying to protect himself on that play.
He cited having flashbacks of Jonathan Kuminga falling on his injured knee on Jan. 30, which led to the MCL sprain that required surgery.
“Trying to make sure (Mitchell Robinson) doesn't land on me because obviously we know the history that I have with (Jonathan) Kuminga landing on my knee," Embiid said. "So I kind of had some flashbacks, when he came down to it. It was unfortunate. I didn't mean to hurt anybody."
Embiid and the Knicks' players got into it after that incident. Meanwhile, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo called out the reigning MVP. The former said he was all in for tough playoff fouls, but what Embiid did could have limited Robinson's season again, while the latter called it a "dirty" play.
It was a controversial contest from start to finish that ended with the Sixers coming out on top. The physicality was at an all-time high. Embiid attempted 21 free throws en route to a playoffs career 50-point outing to give the Sixers a 125-114 win.