BOSTON — While some might have expected the 76ers would keep Joel Embiid on the sideline given Philadelphia earned a Game 1 win without the 2023 NBA MVP, Al Horford and the Boston Celtics apparently didn’t view it the same way.
“We expected that,” Horford said Wednesday morning after the team’s shootaround at Auerbach Center. “At this point we’re excited and ready to go (Wednesday).”
It’s trending in the direction of Embiid playing Wednesday night’s Game 2 at TD Garden. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Embiid was “on track to return” to the third-seeded Sixers in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup.
But until the injury-hindered Embiid actually takes the floor or there’s an official word from the team, it’s fair to think his status remains up in the air. He missed Game 1 against the Celtics with a knee injury that also kept him out of Game 4 of Philadelphia’s first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. And if Embiid does return, his level of effectiveness and usage presents another question mark.
The Celtics, though, are preparing for all situations.
“We’re professionals. We have to be able to make the mental adjustment of if he’s playing, if he’s not playing,” Malcolm Brogdon said after shootaround. “We got to be prepared. We’ve gone over both options, how we’re going to play, how we’re going to defend and offensively how we’re going to play regardless of if he’s playing. So we got to be prepared whether or not he plays.”
Brogdon added: “Everything between the lines is mental. Everybody’s talented, everybody can make shots. It’s about executing, it’s about being able to stay locked in and, you know, embracing the challenge.”
The challenge Embiid presents, of course, is greater than most. The four-time All-NBA selection averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds on 54.8% from the field during 66 regular-season games. During his three postseason games in the first round, Embiid averaged 20 points on 46% from the field and is a game-changer on both ends.
He was named the league MVP on Tuesday night for a reason.
“It impacts everything, to be honest,” Brogdon said of Embiid’s status. “It’s a different style of play that we have to play defensively because they have a dominant scorer on the floor, the MVP of the league. He’s an incredible scorer so you got to take that serious, you got to change the way you play, you got to help. He’s not a one-man job to defend him so it’s a team effort.”
Following the Embiid-related report Wednesday morning, the Sixers moved from a 10-point road underdog to a 7.5-point dog, according to the consensus data on NESNBets.com. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.
