Utah Jazz Trounces Philadelphia 76ers as Joel Embiid Suffers Abdominal Injury

(Photo : Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers speaks to referee Brent Barnaky #36 during the fourth quarter of the game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center on December 09, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On Thursday night, the Utah Jazz extended their winning streak to six games with a resounding 118-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Eight players scored in double-figures for the red-hot Jazz, who moved to within three games of the league-leading Golden State Warriors in the team standings.

Utah's balanced attack destroys Philadelphia

Donovan Mitchell led all Jazz scorers with 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field. He also had six assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action. Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for the Jazz, who improved to 18-7 for the season. Rudy Gobert wreaked havoc down low for Utah, scoring 17 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in another monster double-double performance.

Utah's bench also contributed heavily in this contest, with Hassan Whiteside, Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles, and Rudy Gay each recording double-digit points. The foursome combined for 46 points as they outscored the Sixers reserves by 15 markers.

It was a frustrating loss for the 76ers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. They started strongly in this contest, building a 32-27 lead after the opening quarter. Embiid led the way for Philadelphia during that period, scoring 11 points. Embiid looked like he was on his way to another stellar game after averaging 37.5 points in the 76ers' last two wins against the Charlotte Hornets.

Embiid suffers abdominal injury

Embiid's offensive production slowed down, though, after that hot start, scoring just eight points the rest of the way. He finished the game with just 19 points and nine rebounds. Embiid suffered an abdominal injury during Thursday's loss. After the game, the Sixers big man told reporters that the injury was pretty painful.

The main question now is would this injury affect Embiid long-term? He has just started to regain his groove after missing nine games because of COVID-19. Embiid said that he first felt the injury during the opening quarter, initially thinking it was a cramp.

But, he had difficulty breathing as the game went on, forcing him to get evaluated in the locker room. That is a worrying development for the 76ers ahead of their much-anticipated showdown with the Golden State Warriors. The hope now for Philadelphia is that Embiid will be able to make the start in that game.

The Sixers need all the help they can get as they will face one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. The Warriors will head to the City of Brotherly Love with a league-best 21-4 record. This coming Saturday, Steph Curry is gunning for history as he is just 10 3-pointers away from breaking Ray Allen's hallowed NBA record.

Curry currently has 2,964 3-pointers, and he needed just 786 games to reach that mark. Allen played in 1,300 games before setting his career mark of 2,973 3-pointers.