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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid could miss Thursday’s key Eastern Conference matchup with the Boston Celtics after suffering a dislocated left ring finger in the first quarter of Monday night’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“That’s a possibility,” Embiid said after the game. “I want to play. It’s a big game. Last time we played them, we had great success, but at the end of the day, whatever they want me to do. Obviously, I’ll try to fight it, but they care about me, so whatever they want to do. … We’ll see.”

Embiid, 25, said doctors told him he could have suffered a ligament injury.

“They were just talking about the ligament,” Embiid said. “They’re still figuring out what’s next.”

Battling through the pain

Embiid said he initially thought the finger was broken when he felt discomfort midway through the first quarter, but a locker room X-ray was negative, and he was cleared to return to action. Back on the court, the extent of the injury became clear when his ring finger was pointing in an unnatural direction.

“I came back in, and then it just happened,” Embiid said. “It was unfortunate.”

Still, he returned to the game with his fingers taped together and wound up with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 32 minutes. The Sixers won 120-113.

Embiid said the injury hampered him but wanted to help his team snap a four-game losing streak.

“It was pretty bad,” he said. “I basically could only play with one hand. It was really bad. But in the midst of the losing streak, I just wanted to make sure that I do everything possible to get us a win, and I was glad to get us a win.”

Embiid has been a key contributor for the 76ers, who entered Tuesday in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, eight games behind leader Milwaukee and five games behind second-place Boston.

In 31 games, he is averaging 23.4 points and 12.3 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)