Sixers star Joel Embiid starts Game 4 less than three weeks after undergoing appendectomy
This return adds a massive new layer to this series, which the Celtics led two games to one entering Sunday.
Joel Embiid returned for Game 4 of the 76ers’ first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics Sunday night, 17 days after he underwent an appendectomy in Houston.
This return adds a massive new layer to this series, which the Celtics led two games to one entering Sunday. It also comes after a significantly shorter recovery duration for NBA players who have undergone this procedure. According to Jeff Stotts’ In Street Clothes NBA injury database, the average time missed for an appendectomy is 23 days. That mark for Embiid falls on May 2, the day of a hypothetical Game 7 of this first-round series.
Embiid was still doubtful to play when Nick Nurse held his 5:15 p.m. pregame news conference, then was upgraded to questionable at 5:45 p.m., then to available 30 minutes before tipoff. He was wearing a wrap around his midsection during his pregame shooting routine, and received a big cheer from the crowd when he exited the court.
Starting wing Kelly Oubre Jr. also returned to action after entering Sunday listed as questionable with right adductor soreness in his thigh.
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Embiid, who had not played since his April 9 surgery, was again listed as doubtful entering Sunday’s game. He had the same distinction ahead of Friday’s Game 3 loss before being ruled out about two hours before tipoff because he was “just not ready yet,” Nurse said. Embiid went through an individual on-court workout Saturday afternoon.
During his pregame news conference, Nurse did not share how many minutes he expected Embiid to play.
“We’ve been through it a bunch before,” Nurse said about entering another game with uncertainty about Embiid’s status. “But I’m not even really thinking about Plan A and B until I find out what’s happening. We’ve been through it before, and we’ll make our decisions and stuff when we know.”
Optimism about a potential Embiid return in this series arrived after he participated in portions of the Sixers’ light practice 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.
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 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 team 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.”
