Joel Embiid said a two-month injury lay-off was “mentally” tough as he returned to help the Philadelphia 76ers pick up a 109-105 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA.
Embiid, 30, suffered a knee injury in a 119-107 defeat at the Golden State Warriors on 31 January. The Cameroonian marked his return to the court at Wells Fargo Center with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
“This one took a toll mentally. I just wanted to come back,” Embiid said.
“I'm only going to get better but this one has been the hardest by far, especially mentally.”
The 76ers lost 18 of their 30 games while Embiid was sidelined and are eighth in the Eastern Conference, dropping into the play-in positions after previously sitting in the automatic post-season spots.
Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic scored 42 points with six assists and 16 rebounds to help the Denver Nuggets to a 110-105 win against the San Antonio Spurs. The victory moved the Nuggets to the top of the Western Conference at the expense of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who drop to second after a second loss in four.
The Dallas Mavericks' seven-game winning streak came to an end with a 104-100 defeat against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. Canadian Andrew Wiggins top-scored for the hosts with 23 points to make it five wins on the bounce for Golden State.
The Los Angeles Lakers sealed a 128-111 victory against the Toronto Raptors, consigning the Canadian franchise to a 14th successive loss. D'Angelo Russell scored 25 points with seven assists, while LeBron James added 23 points.
Domantas Sabonis extended his post-merger NBA record of consecutive double-doubles, having achieved that feat in 58 successive games, with 22 points and 20 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers 109-95.
