Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has a torn ligament in his right thumb that will require surgery, but he will play through the injury and put off a procedure until the offseason, Doc Rivers said on Sunday.
Embiid played through the injury in Saturday’s Game 4 loss against the Toronto Raptors, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the 110-102 defeat in Toronto.
After the game, the Sixers star told reporters that he believes he will be able to play throughout his team’s playoff run, despite experiencing pain throughout.
Embiid had an MRI on his injured thumb on Sunday that confirmed the torn ligament.
Rivers said there was “concern” when speaking to reporters on Saturday but could not confirm if there was a ligament tear before the MRI took place.
“I think we already know what it is, to be honest, but we just got to make sure,” Rivers said, confirming that Embiid will get an MRI when the team returns to Philadelphia.
“The one thing we know is it can’t get worse,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
