The 3rd seed of the East, the Philadelphia 76ers, saw off their 1st round opponents, the Brooklyn Nets, in 4 games. However, the early series win did not ensure them a healthy team before their second-round encounter with the Boston Celtics. And Joel Embiid is the man whose fitness is in question.
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The Sixers’ 7-footer sprained the LCL in his knee and missed out on Game 4 action against the Nets. Fans are wondering whether the MVP front-runner will play tonight or sit out to try and get as better as he could be.
Is Joel Embiid playing tonight against the Boston Celtics?
As per the latest development, Embiid is ‘doubtful’ for Game 1 against the Celtics tonight. Both Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski had given a similar update.
However, given his history, the Cameroonian big man has almost always played through his injury in the postseason without aggravating it much further.
Let’s hope it is the same case for Monday because the Celtics will not give them any chance to win in Boston without their center.
Do the Sixers stand a chance against the Cs without Embiid?
As much as their game against the Nets in round 1 suggests they could, the Sixers cannot win against last year’s NBA finalists without Joel in a baseball game.
Even in the regular season, they are 1-3 against Jayson Tatum and Co, who also finished ahead of them in the East as the #2 team in the conference.
Not only Embiid has to play the game, he must bring his A-game to win this series. The way he was playing against the Nets before his injury was not like an MVP of the league and it surely was not something that could win Celtics a game against them.
Let’s just hope he plays tonight for the sake of a good series.
