Like Carson Wentz in 2017, Joel Embiid got his team to the playoffs. How much will the Sixers win without him?
Answer: Sure. A first-round series win would be great, but with Paul George finally at full strength, they could reach the Eastern Conference finals, too.
In the 13th game of the 2017 Eagles season, Carson Wentz, the team’s best player, blew out his knee in Los Angeles. At the end of that game the Birds were 11-2, and after Wentz’s backup won the next two games, they cruised into the playoffs with the No. 1 seed. From there, they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Wentz’s backup was Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
After the 79th game of the 2025-26 Sixers season, Joel Embiid, occasionally still the team’s best player, came down with appendicitis that ended his season. Embiid was nowhere near as valuable as Wentz was in 2017, and, because of injury, illness, and load management, Embiid played in only 38 of those 79 games. Nevertheless, the Sixers were 24-14 when he played and 21-23 without him; so, yes, he remained massively important to their qualification as the No. 7 team in the Eastern Conference and to the play-in slot that finish earned them.
The Sixers hosted the Magic in the first play-in game Wednesday night and won, 109-97, which netted them the seventh seed.
The problem, of course, is that Foles isn’t walking through that door.
Famously, I predicted in 2017 that the Eagles would still win Super Bowl LII without Wentz. Such a prediction in this scenario would be foolhardy.
Fine. But what would be an acceptable outcome going forward?
First, now that the Sixers beat Orlando, as they should have, they face the Celtics. They’ve beaten the Magic three times in four tries this season.
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They got Boston, as they wanted. Needed.
Right?
The Sixers split with the C’s in four games this season, but, to be fair, none of those games included Boston’s best player. Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles in the playoffs last year, and didn’t return until March 6. He’s averaging 21.8 points and 10 rebounds in his 16 games. However, he’s shooting just 41.1% from the field. That’s a glimmer of hope, right?
Marcus Hayes alerts
More hope than the Sixers would have had against the Pistons.
A loss Wednesday would have meant another home play-in game, this time against the Hornets, whom they beat twice but who also beat the Sixers by 37 this season in a game in which Charlotte led by 50.
So, whew.
Actually, double-whew.
A win over Charlotte would have meant a trip to Motown.
The Pistons swept their four games against the Sixers, winning by 3, then 9, then 22, then 23 points. The good news for the Sixers: Embiid played in none of those games.
So, the Sixers got their most beneficial path by winning Wednesday, playing the Celtics, and hoping to win that series in six games.
How might that happen? Super defense from backup centers Andre Drummond and Adem Bona and wing Paul George as well as incandescent offense from Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
They got the best of Maxey on Wednesday, with 31 points and six assists. Edgecombe had 19 and a team-best 11 rebounds. Bona and Drummond had three blocks apiece, and George was brilliant.
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Kelly Oubre hit 5 of 10 three-pointers and scored 19 points.
Can they keep it up?
Why not?
They’re due.
Play-in advancement and a first-round playoff series win would be a huge step forward for a team that hasn’t been relevant since Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston in 2023, which was the last decent game for the Sixers with Hall of Fame coach Doc Rivers and malcontent superstar James Harden.
In fact, if the Sixers get past the Celtics, they would be viable contenders against the rest of the East, until they run into Detroit and former Sixers scapegoat Tobias Harris.
Imagine that: making the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001 with The Process out of the mix.
It might make you wonder how valuable The Process is, after all.
