HOUSTON — Almost individually, the Philadelphia 76ers filed out of their Toyota Center locker room on Thursday night. There was some small talk and conversation as they headed toward the buses that would take them to their charter flight to Indiana, where they face the Pacers on Friday.
However, for the most part, the night was one of reflection and soul-searching, for a team that’s gone through the proverbial wringer on and off the floor.
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Thursday’s performance was a 113-102 loss to the Houston Rockets, a defeat that all but ends Philadelphia’s quest to automatically qualify for the Eastern Conference playoffs with a top-six overall finish. The 76ers are likely a Play-In Tournament team now.
Worse than that, they are likely a Play-In team without their best player, star center Joel Embiid. His emergency surgery on Thursday for appendicitis shocked his teammates.
“He’s our guy,” rookie guard VJ Edgecombe said. “This is bigger than basketball. My mother called me and explained to me what appendicitis is. It’s a scary thing.”
Embiid’s timeline became clearer as the day and evening progressed. The 76ers listed him as out early on Thursday, a designation that drew ire from Philadelphia fans because of the importance of the evening’s matchup. In the afternoon, the Sixers disclosed his illness. However, by game time, it was clear how serious Embiid’s condition was.
By the time Embiid received medical attention, he had abdominal pain so severe that he couldn’t stand up straight. His symptoms, which appeared suddenly, also included a headache. He participated fully in Philadelphia’s team practice on Wednesday. There wasn’t anything amiss as late as Wednesday night. He wasn’t on Philadelphia’s injury report.
“He looked good in practice,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “He was flying up and down the floor. He participated in all of it.”
Embiid is one of the most prolific scorers in the league, averaging nearly 27 points in 38 games. The goal for much of the season is to get him and the team to the playoffs healthy.
However, Embiid’s surgery changes everything. He is almost certainly out for the remainder of the regular season, which includes Friday’s game against the Pacers and Sunday night’s finale against the Milwaukee Bucks. Because the average recovery time for an appendectomy is 10-14 days without any physical activity, Embiid will almost certainly miss the 76ers’ Play-In game, which is next week.
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At best, it seems the Sixers shouldn’t expect Embiid back unless they make the playoffs and win a round. And after the loss to Houston, it would take a major effort for Philadelphia to make the playoffs and beat either the Detroit Pistons or the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Still, a roster that’s seen so many ups and downs this season remains confident it can make noise when it counts.
“Who the hell wants to go home?” center Andre Drummond said. “The goal is to try and win a championship, regardless of whether Joel Embiid plays or not. We still have 14 other guys here who are more than capable of helping us win basketball games.
“It is what it is, and it’s out of our control and out of Joel’s control. But our focus doesn’t change, and our standards don’t change in what we are trying to do here.”
However, nobody can deny that the road to the postseason is now more difficult.
There is still a chance for the 76ers to get the sixth spot. That would require them to win two games and for the Toronto Raptors to lose their two remaining games.
If that happens, the Sixers hold the tiebreaker over Toronto and would jump them in the standings. The problem with that is the Raptors face the Brooklyn Nets in one of those two games. Let’s say the Nets wouldn’t have the motivation to win.
To finish seventh, the Sixers would have to win two games, and they would need the Orlando Magic to lose one of their two remaining games against the Chicago Bulls or Celtics. On paper, it appears the Magic will lose in Boston. However, if the Celtics win one more game, they would be locked into the No. 2 seed. That likely means most of their rotation would sit on Sunday night, making the Magic a favorite.
Slipping to the No. 9 seed is also a possibility for the Sixers. If Philadelphia wins its remaining two games, the lowest it can drop is to No. 8.
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What’s concerning is that Philly waltzed through three quarters against the Rockets, and the consequence became a 20-point deficit. Yes, the 76ers made a spirited rally in the fourth. However, if they are going to survive without Embiid, they’ll have to defend better and play with more energy than they did on Thursday night.
“That’s one of the reasons we made the comeback,” Edgecombe said. “We just played harder, to be honest with you. We started kind of flying around and forcing turnovers. We played in transition and got some easy baskets.”
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That’s what the 76ers will miss the most without Embiid — his offense and the ability to create easy points for himself and others.
It’s a bad time for Tyrese Maxey not to have Embiid, because the finger he injured against the Atlanta Hawks last month is nowhere near fully healed. And although Maxey won’t publicly admit it, it’s affecting his play.
Paul George has been terrific for the most part in his return. But as the Rockets’ Amen Thompson proved, an elite wing defender can give George problems.
Edgecombe is electric and has such a bright future. However, he’s still a rookie, and it’s unfair to ask him to carry the burden of these high-stakes games.
Embiid was always the one for the Sixers. Through the injuries and the ambiguity, he’s the one whom most opposing defenses had no answer for. And now, the 76ers will head into the most important games of their season without him.
If Embiid is going to wear a Philadelphia uniform again this season, others will have to make it happen.
And for the others, that is indeed a tall task.