![\"Jayson](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1490153350-e1776464560231.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics collides with Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a huge surprise, really, that even with a looming playoff series against the Boston Celtics<\/a>, star center Joel Embiid<\/a> is not ready to return to action a little more than a week after an emergency appendectomy. Generally speaking, return to play after a surgery like that is measured in weeks, not days, and there\u2019s only a small chance that the Sixers will get their behemoth big man back in time for this series against Boston.<\/p>\n The NBA\u2019s stretched-out postseason slate does give Embiid a chance to play, if he can knock a bit off the expected four weeks it would normally take to recover from an appendix removal. The Celtics\u2019 series against Philadelphia begins on Sunday, April 19, and could extend into May if the Sixers can hang with heavily favored Boston. Game 6 is slated for April 30.<\/p>\n All hope is not lost for Embiid against the Celtics, then, though it is fair to wonder whether he really wants to get back on the floor considering the opponent. Embiid has gone 0-3 in series against the Celtics in his career, with a combined record of just 3-12.<\/p>\n Sixers Won\u2019t Have Joel Embiid for Game 1<\/p>\n On Friday, speaking to reporters, Sixers coach Nick Nurse made the official confirmation of Embiid\u2019s stats for Game 1\u2013he\u2019s a no-go. Nurse said he really could not comment on what will happen with Embiid from there.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know what? I\u2019m preparing for Sunday\u2019s game, and I know he\u2019s not playing in that one,\u201d Nurse said of Embiid<\/a>. \u201cSo, that\u2019s all. We\u2019re just like zeroed in on trying to see, can we go in there and get ready to battle and fight and execute as best we can? And then we\u2019ll start figuring\u2014anything that changes, you know, the series becomes a series. Anything that changes starts probably right in the middle of that game, and then we take it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n Caution Remains for Celtics<\/p>\n Still, make no mistake, the Celtics are wary of this Sixers team, which has more talent than its 45-37 record indicated. The Sixers have struggled with health and (in the case of Paul George<\/a>, who was suspended for 25 games) availability in general. Kelly Oubre<\/a> played only 50 games, Embiid played 38 and George played 37.<\/p>\n But, when healthy, it\u2019s a potentially formidable roster.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been seeing Paul George at his best, (Tyrese) Maxey at his best,\u201d said Mazzulla on Friday<\/a>. \u201cWith those guys out throughout the season, they\u2019ve had their role players (to) have been able to develop into big-time roles, with the way (Kelly) Oubre playing, (Andre) Drummond\u2019s been playing, (Adem) Bona has gotten better and better.<\/p>\n \u201cGrimes off the bench (as well). \u201cSo, I think they\u2019re a very, very well-balanced team. I think they\u2019re playing some of their best basketball as they get healthier and healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n The Celtics will open with two games<\/a> at TD Garden, on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET and Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSean Deveney<\/a> is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Celtics\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics collides with Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers It\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,6,678,207,3817],"class_list":{"0":"post-712772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","13":"tag-philadelphia76ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116422548677611913","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}