Joel Embiid 'Just Not Ready' for Game 3

The only thing the Sixers can do is continue to entrust Adem Bona, who will start Game 3, and Andre Drummond.

Apr 3, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) controls the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA — The Sixers' coaching staff is perhaps never closer than it is during a playoff series.

Basketball rules their lives as long as their team stays alive. 24 hours a day. Seven days a week.

According to Nick Nurse, that is why playoff series are great.

"Thoughts, ideas, film, texts, calls. You're just trying to absorb everything you can. And then figure out what you think that may come in the next game. You got to throw some educated guesses out there and try to prepare the team for some of it. Lot of it," Nurse told reporters ahead of Game 3 in Philadelphia on Friday.

Why have Nurse's teams historically done so well in Game 3s?

"I don't know. We just pore over the tape as much as we can," Nurse said.

They can grind film every second they're not coaching the Sixers through a game. He still doesn't expect his staff to nail every twist the Celtics throw at them.

"We got to coach on the fly. Get those timeouts and halftimes and stuff to get our guys understand what's coming or 'This is what we're seeing, this is the reaction to that.'," he said.

In the eyes of a basketball junkie from Iowa, that's just the fun of the playoffs.

"Being able to just continue to dig in on it and give them some thoughts on what we think might help them."

What might help the Sixers most is the return of Joel Embiid.

That's a trump card Philadelphia still has to shake this series up. Boston can't say the same.

Embiid, upgraded to 'doubtful' on the initial injury report for Game 3, was ruled out at 5:15 p.m., as Nurse entered the media room for his typical pregame media availability.

"He's just not ready. He's lifted some, he's gotten on court a bit. But we're still at two weeks and a day, so just not ready yet," Nurse told reporters.

Embiid has been able to do some "pretty intense" playing against players and development coaches.

"Mostly workouts and stuff, individual stuff, but he has got out there and played against competition," Nurse said.

It's getting there. Will it be there in time for Game 4? The outcome of Game 3 could ostensibly dictate that.

The only thing the Sixers can do is continue to entrust Adem Bona, who will start Game 3, and Andre Drummond.

Their usage was helter-skelter in the first two games of the series. Nurse wanted to give both bigs chances with the starting lineup in Game 1. He was particularly satisfied with Drummond in Game 2.

"He just did all the things in Game 2 that we needed him to do. I thought he was solid," Nurse said.

From the sounds of it, Nurse was pleased with Drummond's effort to hedge in ball screen defense. But it was more than that.

"He was blocking out. He was screening, he was just in a good rhythm of everything. He was doing it at both ends."

The Sixers will need Drummond to do it in volume for at least one more game.

It could be the difference between buying Embiid some more time and giving away the home-court advantage they worked so hard for in Game 2.

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