Sixers' Injury Surprise vs. Rockets Might Seal Their Place in the Play-In Tournament

Heading into Thursday, the Sixers had fallen to the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. They likely need to win each of their last three regular-season games to have any prayer of landing a top-six seed and the guaranteed playoff spot that comes along with it.

Their chances of doing so took a major hit thanks to the NBA's 1:15 p.m. ET injury report.

On the 1 p.m. ET report, Joel Embiid was not even listed. Fifteen minutes later, Embiid was ruled out with an illness.

Embiid missed two of the Sixers' past four games due to the illness, which left him feeling frustrated at the front office. Thursday's game against the Houston Rockets is the first night of a back-to-back for the Sixers, so they might be using the "illness" listing as their justification for holding him out Thursday and then playing him Friday against the Indiana Pacers.

However, sources told Tony Jones of The Athletic that Embiid "reported feeling ill" this morning and is "currently receiving medical treatment in Houston." If that's the case, he might not be guaranteed to suit up in either leg of the back-to-back.

That might all but lock the Sixers into the play-in tournament next week.

Can the Sixers keep up on the glass sans Embiid?

The Rockets will be without Fred VanVleet (ACL) and Steven Adams (ankle) on Thursday, while Tari Eason (illness) is questionable. Other than that, they're at full strength.

In the Sixers' first game against the Rockets this season, they emerged with a 128-122 overtime victory thanks to 36 points and 10 assists from Tyrese Maxey and 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists from Embiid. Paul George and VJ Edgecombe combined for only 19 points that night and figure to be more impactful this time around, but this is not the matchup to be short-handed in, particularly in the frontcourt.

The Rockets appear to have settled on a starting five of Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Şengün. Sheppard is 6'2", Thompson is 6'7, and all three of Şengün, Durant and Smith are listed at 6'11".

The Rockets lead the league in total rebounds this year due in large part to their dominance on the offensive glass. The Sixers might have stood a chance against them with Embiid manning the middle—the Sixers and Rockets each finished with 46 boards in their January meeting—but Andre Drummond and Adem Bona are now facing an uphill battle.

Maxey, who's coming off a rough game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, will have to carry the offensive load without Embiid. That may be a tough task with Thompson's 6'7" frame swarming him.

The Rockets are going to have a major size advantage against the Sixers on Thursday with Embiid sidelined. If the Sixers can't find a way to battle through that, they might effectively lock themselves into the play-in tournament by the end of Thursday night.

The play-in picture as of Thursday

Here's how the race for the East's last few playoff spots looks heading into Thursday night:

Seed	Team	Record	Games Back	Schedule
5	Atlanta Hawks	45-35	-	vs. CLE, @ MIA
6	Toronto Raptors	44-35	0.5	vs. MIA, @ NY, vs. BKN
7	Orlando Magic	44-36	1	@ CHI, @ BOS
8	Philadelphia 76ers	43-36	1.5	@ HOU, @ IND, vs. MIL
9	Charlotte Hornets	43-37	2	vs. DET, @ NY
10	Miami Heat	41-38	3.5	@ TOR, @ WAS, vs. ATL

The Sixers hold tiebreakers over the Raptors, Magic and Hornets. The Hawks and Heat have the tiebreaker over them.

If the Hawks win one of their last two games, they're guaranteed to finish ahead of the Sixers. The Magic figure to stomp the tanking Chicago Bulls on Friday, and the Boston Celtics likely won't have anything to play for Sunday, so they could rest most of their starters.

Realistically, the Sixers need to win out to have any chance of landing a top-six seed. Otherwise, not only will they be locked into the play-in tournament, but there's a chance that they'll have to go on the road in the opening game.

The good news is that Cade Cunningham returned for the Pistons on Wednesday. It's unclear whether he'll play against the Hornets on Friday, particularly since they could be Detroit's first-round opponent, but the Pistons likely want to give him an opportunity to shake off rust before the playoffs begin.

If the Hornets lose that game, the Sixers would only need to win one of their last three to ensure they finish ahead of Charlotte. And if the Heat lose any of their final three games, the Sixers would be guaranteed to finish ahead of them by winning any of their final three.

So, realistically, the Sixers aren't likely to finish lower than the No. 8 seed even if they lose against Houston on Thursday. But their chances of snagging a top-six seed and earning a guaranteed playoff spot are on life support thanks to Embiid's latest illness.

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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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