Sixers Gain Clarity on Joel Embiid's Status Ahead of Game 1 vs. Celtics

The Sixers aren't expected to have their star center early in their first-round series against their hated rivals.

Feb 21, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

One week ago, Joel Embiid underwent surgery for appendicitis. He missed the Sixers' win over the Orlando Magic in the play-in tournament on Wednesday, although he was at the arena with the team for the first time since his procedure.

On Thursday, ESPN's Shams Charania revealed that Embiid isn't likely to be back for the start of the Sixers' first-round series against the Boston Celtics, which begins Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Shams:

"Sixers are preparing for battle against the Celtics without Joel Embiid at least to start the series" pic.twitter.com/sdeTQ3Jskk

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) April 16, 2026

"The Sixers are preparing for battle without Joel Embiid, at least to start the series," Charania said. "He's only a week-ish removed from surgery for that appendicitis. So he's very much in the recovery phase of this. Once you recover, then you have to have a separate rehab part of the process as well.

"This is a serious issue that Joel Embiid had a week ago. He's still trying to recover. Good news for the Sixers, though: He was with the team last night at the arena, at the game, for the first time since the surgery."

That should quiet some of the speculation about Embiid's readiness to return—or lack thereof.

Leave the medical opinions to the experts

On Wednesday, professional blowhard Skip Bayless went viral by claiming "a pretty good source in Philadelphia" told him that Embiid was already cleared to play, but he had "chosen not to play."

Embiid's trainer, Drew Hanlen, poured cold water on that theory ahead of Wednesday's game.

To set the record straight, this is 100% false.

Nothing worse than when media members make up shit for clicks & views then hide behind unnamed “sources.” https://t.co/BKqa43zq2d

— Drew Hanlen (@DrewHanlen) April 15, 2026

According to longtime NBA injury expert Jeff Stotts, players have missed an average of roughly 23 days after undergoing an in-season appendectomy over the past 20 years. He warned Sixers fans to "anticipate a multi-week absence that could impact just how the team's season ends."

By beating Orlando, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, VJ Edgecombe and Kelly Oubre Jr. ensured that the Sixers' season wouldn't end Friday. Granted, the Sixers are now facing an uphill battle against the Celtics without their star center.

In their supposed "gap year," the Celtics still wound up winning 56 games to finish as the No. 2 seed in the East. Jaylen Brown emerged as a dark-horse MVP candidate in Jayson Tatum's absence, while Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta had career years.

Queta typically isn't a high-volume scoring threat, although he is the anchor for the Celtics' fourth-ranked defense. Boston is also the NBA's third-best rebounding team this season, which is particularly concerning given the Sixers' struggles in that department.

Sixers will feel Embiid's absence

Even if the Sixers did have Embiid, they'd be facing an uphill battle in this matchup. This is the fourth time they're facing the Celtics in the Brown and Tatum era, and they lost all three of the previous series.

The Celtics routinely throw Embiid out of rhythm by flooding him with extra defensive help. He's improved his passing out of double-teams over the years, but even if he's able to return at some point this series, he won't have the time he might need to shake off any rust from his latest layoff.

In the meantime, not having a go-to option in the post could be detrimental to the Sixers' chances of knocking off the heavily favored Celtics.

While the Sixers got away with an isolation-heavy approach against the dysfunctional Magic on Wednesday, that likely won't fly against the Celtics. They have too many plus defenders to make that work. The Sixers need to keep the ball moving, but they might not have enough scoring punch to put real fear into Boston.

The Sixers have not definitively ruled Embiid out for the series, so there's always a chance that he returns later in the playoffs if the Sixers can stave off elimination for that long. Game 3 of this series isn't until Friday, April 24, which would be 15 days after Embiid's surgery.

They have a game every other day from that point forward, so the Sixers might need to win at least a game or two to give Embiid a realistic shot of returning at some point in this series.

Granted, there's no guarantee he'll be back at all. OG Anunoby missed almost all of the Toronto Raptors' run to the 2018-19 championship after undergoing an appendectomy shortly after their regular-season finale.

But if nothing else, the Sixers are going into this series against the Celtics knowing that they'll be without their star center. That will allow them to plan accordingly, for whatever good that does them.

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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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