Joel Embiid listed doubtful for Game 4 vs. Boston Celtics
Embiid was upgraded to doubtful entering Friday’s Game 3 before being ruled out about two hours before tipoff. He went through an individual on-court workout Saturday.
Joel Embiid (appendectomy) is listed as doubtful for Game 4 of the 76ers’ first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.
Embiid has not played since his April 9 surgery, but was upgraded to doubtful entering Friday’s Game 3 before being ruled out about two hours before tipoff because he was “just not ready yet,” coach Nick Nurse said. Embiid went through an individual on-court workout Saturday afternoon.
“He’s working as hard as he can to get back,” Nurse said following the team’s Saturday film session. “We’re just going to have to see how it goes here today and tomorrow morning, and maybe we’ll know more towards the end of shootaround.”
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Starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. is also listed as questionable to play Sunday with right adductor soreness. Oubre totaled 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting and six rebounds in Friday’s Game 3 loss.
The second-seeded Celtics hold two games to one series lead over the seventh-seeded Sixers.
Optimism about a potential Embiid return in this series arrived after he participated in portions of the Sixers’ light practice on Thursday. The former MVP also resumed individual on-court and strength and conditioning work earlier in the week, including scrimmaging against teammates and player development coaches, Nurse said Friday.
Nurse said Thursday that feedback from the Sixers’ medical staff about Embiid’s recovery has ranged from “sometimes it’s positive [to] sometimes it’s not so.” The coach added they are monitoring how Embiid’s body reacts to an increased physical workload.
Per Jeff Stotts’ In Street Clothes NBA injury database, the average time missed for an appendectomy is 23 days. That falls on May 2, the day of a hypothetical Game 7 of this first-round series.
Embiid averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.2 blocks in 38 games during the regular season. He had a particularly dominant — and available — stretch from mid-December through early February, which put him in contention to be named an All-Star reserve. But this is his latest injury-impacted season, in which he also dealt with an oblique strain, a shin stress reaction, and issues with both knees.
The appendectomy also is part of a long list of ailments that have sidelined or limited Embiid during the postseason. He played through Bell’s palsy during a 2024 first-round loss to the New York Knicks. In 2023, he missed two playoff games with a knee injury. And in 2022, he played through a torn thumb ligament and then missed two games of a second-round loss to the Miami Heat with an orbital fracture.
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Since Embiid rejoined the Sixers when it returned to Philly following Games 1 and 2, teammates have expressed their excitement to have the big man participating in any capacity again.
“It [would be] a different ballgame having Joel back in the series,” said Adem Bona, who has been starting at center in this series. “It’s a huge advantage for us, so I’m just excited to see him back on the floor again.”
