The Sixers must prepare to move forward without Joel Embiid — again. This is how they’ll need to adjust.

HOUSTON — When VJ Edgecombe woke up from his Thursday afternoon nap, he had a missed call from his mother.

She wondered if the news she had seen, that Joel Embiid had appendicitis and needed surgery, was fake. Unfortunately for Embiid and the 76ers, it was real.

It was the latest stroke of terrible luck — or “random [expletive],” as All-Star teammate Tyrese Maxey so candidly described it — for Embiid at seemingly the most inopportune time. As Thursday unfolded, Edgecombe, Maxey, fellow teammate Andre Drummond and coach Nick Nurse publicly prioritized their concern and well wishes for Embiid the human.

Yet from a basketball standpoint, the Sixers (43-37) are fighting for seeding in the regular season’s final week, and could be playing postseason basketball as soon as Tuesday. They have two regular-season games remaining, following an admirable rally attempt in Thursday’s 113-102 loss at the Rockets that ultimately pushed them closer to next week’s Play-In Tournament.

Now the Sixers must rapidly regroup — again — and forge ahead without Embiid for the foreseeable future.

“Who the hell trying to go home?” said Drummond, who totaled five points, 15 rebounds, and five assists against the Rockets. “The goal is to try to win a championship, regardless of if Joel Embiid plays or not. We’ve still got 14 other guys that are more than capable of helping us win basketball games.

“Our focus doesn’t change, and our standards don’t change to what we’re trying to do here.”

» READ MORE: Another lost postseason for Joel Embiid, but it doesn’t change much for the Sixers

Embiid’s surgery occurred about 24 hours after what Nurse described as an “unbelievable” Wednesday of team practice and film study in Houston, during which Embiid was a participant. Yet Maxey may have been one of the first Sixers to get an inkling that something was off health-wise with Embiid. Maxey said that, during a Wednesday conversation with Embiid, his teammate “didn’t sound great. He just sounded sick.”

In the middle of the night, Nurse said, Embiid notified the team’s medical staff of a stomach pain that, one source said, eventually became so intense that the player struggled to stand up straight. On the NBA’s injury report released at 12:15 p.m. local time, Embiid was listed as out with a nonspecific illness. A doctor’s examination determined Embiid needed an appendectomy that day.

The procedure was completed by halftime of Thursday’s game. Embiid stayed in Houston while the Sixers traveled to Indianapolis for Friday’s matchup at the Pacers, a league source said.

“It’s more than basketball, obviously, for us,” Edgecombe said. That’s someone that we care about. Someone that we love.”

It is possible that Embiid will not play again this season, depending on how far the Sixers advance. Jeff Stotts, who compiles the NBA injury database In Street Clothes, posted Thursday that the average time missed following an appendectomy is 23 days, which likely extends past the playoffs’ first round.

Throughout an injury-plagued career, Embiid’s most bizarre ailments seem to happen around this time. Bell’s palsy during the 2024 first-round loss to the New York Knicks, when he could not blink his left eye. A 2022 torn thumb ligament because it inadvertently got tangled in a jersey. And an orbital fracture — twice.

“I don’t know,” a lost-for-words Maxey said when asked about Embiid’s strange string of issues. “I don’t have an answer.”

For much of Thursday’s game, neither did the Sixers.

They tumbled into a 28-point third-quarter deficit, after surrendering 22 points off 14 turnovers. Though Edgecombe said the emotional weight of the sudden Embiid news cannot be an excuse for the Sixers’ horrendous start, Maxey acknowledged that “it’s been a roller coaster of a year.”

Then, an unconventional lineup of Edgecombe, Drummond, Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards, and Dominick Barlow eventually cut that deficit to seven with less than five minutes to play. That group ramped up the pressure defense, and immediately got out in transition off takeaways or missed shots.

It was reminiscent of the fast-paced style, typically anchored by Edgecombe and Maxey, upon which the Sixers now must rely without Embiid.

“We’ve just got to go,” Edgecombe said. “We can’t think about anything. We can’t worry about anything. We’ve just got to go.”

Added Drummond: “That’s the type of energy we have to play with from Quarter 1, when the ball goes up in the air. Something to build off of for [Friday]. I know our guys are excited, because that was dope and it felt good to have that type of run.”

Embiid’s absence derails Nurse’s vision that the Sixers’ best version is still the one with the big man on the floor. Or that the roster was finally rounding back into form — with key wins over the Charlotte Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves — following George’s stunning 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and weeks-long injuries for Maxey (finger), Embiid (oblique), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (elbow)

Instead, Drummond and Adem Bona are the center options, with Barlow used as a small-ball option at that position Thursday. More scoring would be helpful from Grimes, who totaled 20 points Thursday, and Oubre, who had 16.

Maxey and George more consistently looking like their best selves might also be a requirement to make any sort of postseason push. Following a torrid initial return from suspension, George has tapered off by going 7-of-23 from the floor during his last two games combined, at the Rockets and San Antonio Spurs. And Maxey on Thursday lamented another tentative 0-for-3 first quarter, acknowledging these Sixers “won’t recover from them.”

“Being comfortable with the basketball in my hands, it’s hard,” said Maxey, who finished with 23 points and went 5-of-10 from three-point range. “The smallest things kind of throw you off. But I don’t care. I’m out there and I‘ve got to be able to succeed anyway, and I did.

“I played well after the first quarter, scoring-wise, but I think it was probably too late after that.”

» READ MORE: From Bell’s palsy to appendicitis, a history of Joel Embiid’s injuries around the playoffs

Back in late January, Embiid said he already regarded the 2025-26 season a personal success. He was in the midst of a dominant — and available — stretch following multiple surgeries in his left knee, averaging 30 points in 20 games from Dec. 23 through Feb. 8 to put himself in contention to be named an All-Star reserve.

Then, Embiid suffered a shin stress reaction. And an oblique strain, which kept him out for about a month. And now this.

The Sixers have played more games without Embiid (42) than with him (38) this season. Edgecombe said the Sixers must channel their regular pregame motto to play hard no matter who is on the floor. Nurse was encouraged that the Sixers eventually “snapped out” of Thursday’s dreadful start. And Maxey believes nabbing one win “boosts spirits, no matter what the scenario is.”

The good news is the Sixers’ final two opponents — the Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks — are finishing off their tank jobs.

More good news: The Sixers have the seeding tiebreakers over the ninth-place Charlotte Hornets, seventh-place Orlando Magic, and fifth-place Raptors. But they still need help to elevate to sixth, and out of the Play-In Tournament.

No matter where the Sixers land, Nurse emphasized that, respectfully, they all must “get over” Embiid’s absence and recognize there is still plenty for which to play.

Edgecombe agrees with his coach, and refuses to exit his rookie season with any regrets.

“We can’t break. We can’t give up. We can’t do anything like that,” Edgecombe said. “Just give it our best shot. We’ve just got to live with the results … then we can’t be mad at that.

“I don’t want to look back on the season and be like, ‘Damn I wish I did this more. I wish I did that more.’”