PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid’s surprise return only 17 days after having an appendectomy fell flat and did nothing to help the Philadelphia 76ers stay competitive with Boston.
Embiid had 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes, a gutsy effort in his latest return from injury that wasn’t enough to overcome the Celtics in their 128-96 Game 4 win Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
“You try to do the best job possible with the conditions,” Embiid said. “You’ve still got to go out there and try and play and win a basketball game. We didn’t do that tonight. We didn’t play well.”
Embiid — who received a roaring ovation in pregame introductions — wasted little time scoring in his first game since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points.
Embiid withered after the fast start and missed seven straight shots before converting a three-point play in the third quarter. That cut the Sixers’ deficit to 23 points.
Embiid was listed as doubtful to start the day and was upgraded to questionable about 90 minutes before the scheduled tipoff. Embiid returned to the court wearing a protective brace around his midsection, and was cleared to play about 40 minutes before the start of Game 4.
The 32-year-old Embiid averaged 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds this season after playing in only 19 games in 2024-25. He hasn’t appeared in as many as 40 games in a regular season since 2022-23, when he averaged a career-best 33.1 points and earned MVP honors.
Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston — he said he had unspecified complications after the surgery — on April 9 after Philadelphia’s star big man was stricken with appendicitis overnight.
Embiid provided nothing more than an early emotional lift to a Sixers team that was a 7 1/2-point home underdog to the Celtics, according to oddsmakers.
“I thought he had a lot of good looks,” coach Nick Nurse said. “A lot of them went in and out. That wasn’t certainly helping our offense.”
The Celtics won Game 1 by 32 points and the Sixers responded with a surprise 111-97 win in Boston in Game 2. Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points and shot the Sixers into a fourth-quarter lead in Game 3 before Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown took over down the stretch for the Celtics in a 108-100 victory.
Embiid joined Maxey, rookie standout VJ Edgecombe, Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. in the starting lineup.
Embiid’s absence in the play-in tournament win over Orlando and the first three playoff games against Boston continues a trend of injury-plagued postseasons.
In 2024, Embiid played in the playoffs through a bout with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis. He wore sunglasses to the podium after he scored 50 points in the Sixers’ Game 3 win over the Knicks and said at the time he was dealing with various symptoms such as blurred vision and dry eyes.
In 2022, the Sixers won 51 games under coach Doc Rivers and had a great chance at a deep playoff run until Embiid suffered a right orbital fracture and a concussion when he was hit in the face by Toronto’s Pascal Siakam. He also suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb. Embiid missed two games in a second-round series against Miami. The Sixers lost both games and the series, 4-2.
Embiid missed one game in the 2021 playoffs with a torn meniscus in his right knee.
He missed one playoff game in 2019 and two in 2018 with injuries.
Embiid said he no choice but to push through his latest postseason malady headed into Game 5 Tuesday night in Boston.
“You probably go through a couple of days where you feel bad for yourself,” Embiid said. “Then it’s right back to it. Are you going to give up or are you going to try and come back as early as possible?”
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