How Loss to Rockets Impacts Sixers' Projected Playoffs Seed

One week ago, vibes were great for the Sixers. One week ago.

Now, Joel Embiid's season may effectively be over, and the Sixers' chances of landing a top-six seed in the East—and a guaranteed playoff spot—are all but toast as well.

Life comes at you fast in the NBA.

Embiid wasn't even listed on the injury report on Thursday morning. A few hours later, he was undergoing an appendectomy.

Joel Embiid Medical Update: Appendectomies are relatively uncommon in the NBA but have occurred with players like Grant Hill & OG Anunoby undergoing the procedure. The average time lost for in-season surgery is ~23 days (10.2 games). Median = 18 days
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) April 9, 2026

At best, Embiid could perhaps return toward the end of a first-round playoff series. He isn't guaranteed to return at all this season, though. And the Sixers might not last long enough without him for it to matter.

The Sixers battled back valiantly against the Houston Rockets, but they couldn't dig their way out of the 20-point hole that they dug themselves into earlier in the game. Even if they beat the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks in their final two regular-season games, their postseason fate is no longer in their hands.

Where the Sixers stand heading into Friday

The Sixers were already reeling from two straight Orlando Magic wins on Tuesday and Wednesday that caused them to slip to the No. 8 seed. Thursday's results didn't help their cause.

Beyond their own loss to Houston, the Toronto Raptors swept their two-game series against the Miami Heat. The Raptors are now two games ahead of the Sixers, which means one win in their final two games—they face the New York Knicks on Friday and the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday—will guarantee they finish ahead.

The Atlanta Hawks are also 45-35, and they have the tiebreaker over the Sixers, so they're guaranteed to finish ahead of them. That means the Sixers' only hopes of a top-six seed would be two straight losses by the Raptors.

The odds of that are roughly zero given the lineup that Brooklyn figures to throw out there Sunday.

Seed	Team	Record	GB	Schedule
5	Toronto Raptors	45-35	-	@ NYK, vs. BKN
6	Atlanta Hawks	45-35	-	vs. CLE, @ MIA
7	Orlando Magic	44-36	1	@ CHI, @ BOS
8	Philadelphia 76ers	43-37	2	@ IND, vs. MIL
9	Charlotte Hornets	43-37	2	vs. DET, @ NYK
10	Miami Heat	41-39	4	@ WAS, vs. ATL

The Magic should smash the Bulls on Friday, especially with the Bulls short-handed on the second half of a back-to-back. Their regular-season finale could be tricky if the Boston Celtics play all of their starters, but they only would need to if they hadn't clinched the No. 2 seed in the East by then.

If the Magic win both games, they'll finish 46-36 and would therefore be guaranteed to finish ahead of the Sixers as well. That means the Sixers could be eighth at best.

The Sixers do have the tiebreaker over the Charlotte Hornets and a far easier schedule on paper, although it's unclear how motivated the Pistons or Knicks will be in their respective games. The Pistons have already clinched the No.1. seed in the East, while the Knicks could have clinched the No. 3 by Sunday.

If the Hornets do win out, the Sixers will have to win out as well to avoid falling to the No. 9 seed. The Sixers control their fate when it comes to staying at No. 8, but they'll need a lot of help to move any higher than that.

Is there a preferred route?

Then again, it might not matter where the Sixers land. Without Embiid, they stand even less of a chance of beating one of the top four seeds in the East than they already did.

If (when) the Sixers slip into the play-in, they'll likely be guaranteeing themselves a date with either the Celtics or the Pistons. Both teams will have an enormous advantage over the Sixers unless Embiid is able to return early in the series.

Even if the Sixers somehow snuck into a top-six seed, the Knicks and Cavaliers wouldn't be much easier. Both teams could overwhelm the Embiid-less Sixers with size between the Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson and the Cavs' Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

The Sixers likely would have been fairly hefty underdogs regardless of whom they drew in Round 1 even with Embiid. Without him, they're going to be extreme long shots.

And that's assuming they even make the playoffs in the first place. Without Embiid, that's no guarantee, either.

Winning the last two regular-season games and securing no worse than the No. 8 seed would guarantee them a home play-in game Friday if they lost the 7-8 game Tuesday. That's hardly where they expected to be even a week ago, when the No. 6 seed seemed like a realistic possibility.

On the bright side, the next time someone accuses you of getting overly bent out of shape about a "meaningless" regular-season loss, remind them of how close this year's playoff race wound up being. Had the Sixers avoided even one or two of their worst losses of the season, they might have a playoff spot already sewn up by now.

Instead, it's looking like they'll have to fight their way in. And barring a medical miracle, they'll have to do so without Embiid.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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