The 2023 league MVP appears to be injured again.

Philadelphia 76ers seven-time All-Star center Joel Embiid left his club’s current home game against the Philadelphia 76ers and went to the locker room. Indiana shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin appeared to scratch his eye late in the second quarter of the game.

With the 76ers often missing at least one of their three All-Stars, the team got off to a brutal 3-14 start to the season. The team has turned things around, winning four of its last five contests, meaning Philadelphia is 7-15 on the year.

The Pacers, on the other hand, are going the other way. Indiana is currently 10-15 on the year, good for the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference, and is just 4-6 in its last 10 contests.

Indiana (ahem) leads Philadelphia by double digits 61-50 at halftime at the Wells Fargo Center after leading by as many as 13 points.

Embiid and his fellow All-Star point guard led the 76ers with 12 points each at halftime. Embiid scored on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor (1-of-2 from distance) and 3-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe. He also handed out five dimes and grabbed four rebounds in 17:28 minutes. All-Star small forward Paul George, who signed a lucrative four-year, $211.6 million maximum deal in the offseason, has just three points on minimal 1-of-3 shooting from the field, along with three rebounds, two blocks and an assist and a steal.

All-NBA Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton’s performance is finally resembling his play during the breakout 2023-24 season. He also scored a game-high 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting from the floor, including a whopping 5 of 10 from distance, while dishing out seven assists, grabbing two rebounds and grabbing a steal. It’s already one of his best halves of the year.

Meanwhile, two frontcourt figures represent Indiana’s only other two scorers, who scored in double figures in the first two quarters of the contest. All-NBA Pacers power forward Pascal Siakam has 11 points, while backup power forward Obi Toppin has 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting from the field and 2 of 2 shooting from the charity stripe. The Pacers hit on 46 percent of their field goal attempts and 38 percent of their 3-point attempts.

At this point, Embiid’s fate for the remainder of the game is still unclear.

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