Sixers Give Encouraging Status Update on Joel Embiid Ahead of Game 3 vs Celtics

The hours leading up to Game 3 in Philadelphia between the Boston Celtics and Sixers on Friday will be a bit more tense than usual thanks to the initial injury report for the third battle of this series.

The Sixers have upgraded Joel Embiid to 'doubtful' for Game 3 as he recovers from appendectomy surgery. The emergency procedure took place in Houston exactly two weeks ago.

Perhaps it is just a tactic to keep Boston guessing amid a playoff series, as if the maniacal Joe Mazzulla won't have the green prepared either way. Or, maybe it is a true status upgrade. It gives the Sixers flexibility leading up to game time without having to worry about a league penalty if they were to rule Embiid out only for him to suddenly be available. If his status is upgraded further in the next 24 hours, history says it's very likely Embiid will play.

Embiid is the only Sixer whose status is in question, and his availability could flip this matchup as the tied series shifts to Philadelphia.

It is worth noting that V.J. Edgecombe, who suffered a hard fall early in Game 2 and walked off the court limping twice, is not listed on the injury report. Neither is Dominick Barlow, who took some hits to the face contesting a Jaylen Brown 3-pointer at the end of the second quarter and did not play in the second half of Game 2.

Boston has not released its injury report ahead of Game 3 yet.

The Celtics don't have any trump cards left on their roster like the Sixers do, but expect some significant adjustments in Game 3.

We'll start with Edgecombe, who had a buffet of open shots in Game 2.

Per https://t.co/ElSYPqQVMN, last night the Celtics gave VJ Edgecombe:

7 shots (6 threes) with 6+ feet of space
6 shots (3 thees) with 4-6 feet of space
7 shots (1 three) with 2-4 feet of space
0 shots with 0-2 feet of space

He shot 12/20 (6/10 from 3).
— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) April 22, 2026

It would be slightly reactionary to let one star-level showing sway your entire game plan for defending a rookie, but Edgecombe likely won't get the same clean looks the Celtics allowed him in Game 2. Expect them to step closer to home when he's off the ball and pressure the ball more when it's in his hands to try and slow him down off the dribble.

Boston's lasting memory of Game 2 will be Tyrese Maxey sticking a pair of pull-up 3s to beat the Celtics' drop coverage as the home team went on a run in the middle of the fourth quarter. Stacking the pick-and-roll combinations to get Boston's bigs into the action was a central theme in the Sixers closing the door in that game, the Celtics lacking a traditional big who can hedge or switch on a ball screen.

Philadelphia toyed with the Celtics' drop coverage to keep the scoreboard moving as time ran out on Boston.

So, expect Mazzulla to roll with Jayson Tatum as a small-ball center in Game 3.

The logic would be that he's a spacer if the ball is in someone else's hands, he supplies the rebounding that would come with traditional bigs and he'd be able to hedge and switch on ball screens. Deploying him at center and allocating some minutes to a Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman or Hugo Gonzalez would take Boston out of drop coverage, countering the Sixers' pull-up threats.

Of course, if Embiid returns, that changes the ballgame for everyone.

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