The last image of Joel Embiid playing with the 76ers was him gritting his way through Bell’s palsy and the aftereffects of a left knee injury. He played 40 minutes in Game 6 of the first-round matchup last season against the New York Knicks despite being clearly limited.

Embiid played 26 minutes in the losing effort, scoring 13 points and adding five assists and three rebounds. He made only two of his 11 shot attempts, hitting an open 3-pointer of

Joel Embiid took an errant headbutt to the face, looked gassed early in his 26-minute season debut, flopped, as the big man can — though extra seconds on the floor provided a needed breather — and failed to find his shot in his return to the Philadelphia 76ers.