CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers have an opponent for the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Boston Celtics. However, when the Sixers make that trek to TD Garden for Game 1, they might not have a full roster.
The status of Joel Embiid is still the big question mark. When the team convened for practice on Saturday, coach Doc Rivers didn’t have a great update on the MVP front-runner.
“There is no latest,” Rivers said. “Obviously, the doctors looked at him and he didn’t do anything today (Saturday). I’ll say this, if I was a betting man, I would probably say doubtful for at least Game 1, but we’ll see.”
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Embiid is definitively out. There have been plenty of instances when he was listed as questionable or doubtful and he ended up playing so time will tell.
Rivers said Embiid has to get on the floor and do things before the Sixers can say he’s close to a return. They had hope for Saturday, but nothing happened.
“He has to get better,” Rivers said of what has to happen for Embiid to return. “He has to be on the floor. He did nothing. Today, nothing yet. Just wasn’t able to and obviously, we were hopeful for today, yeah.”
Game 1 with the Celtics is set for Monday.
[lawrence-related id=79171,79158,79130]