Philadelphia Sixers fans feared something was up when the team announced that Joel Embiid would miss Thursday's game against the Rockets due to illness, and a couple of hours later, they were sadly proven right. The team said that the center was diagnosed with appendicitis and will have surgery this afternoon in Houston.
He truly can't catch a break.
Embiid returned at the end of March after missing a month due to an oblique strain, and he was looking like his old self on the offensive end, punishing opposing defenses and scoring at will. He had 34 points in Monday's loss to the Spurs, a team with a top-three defense, adding 12 rebounds, four blocks (tying his game-high this season), and one assist in 39 minutes.
Given that the Sixers had two full days off between that game and tonight's against the Rockets, fans didn't think that there was a chance Embiid wouldn't play. There are things out of your control, though, and this is one of them.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 9, 2026
Sixers announce Joel Embiid will have surgery on Thursday
Embiid missed last Wednesday's game against the Wizards due to illness, and two days later, after beating the Timberwolves, he told the media he was "pissed off" he "wasn't allowed" to play against Washington. He wanted to be out there, but Philadelphia took care of business without him, dropping 153 points.
That saga is why fans were worried about his designation for tonight's game, hoping that there wasn't something more going on behind the scenes. They didn't want to deal with that kind of drama again this late in the season with the Sixers trying to make a playoff push. No one could've predicted that he'd be out with appendicitis.
Sixers will be without Joel Embiid with postseason looming
Philadelphia currently sits No. 8 in the East, a half-game back from Orlando, and one game behind Toronto. Climbing into the top six before the regular season comes to an end on Sunday is what the Sixers have been pushing for, and having to do so without Embiid isn't the position they wanted to be in.
Avoiding the play-in tournament and having a few extra days to rest and prepare for the playoffs is the goal. That is still in play, but losing to a Rockets team on the road that has won seven straight games could knock the Sixers down to No. 9 in the conference. They'd need to beat the Pacers and the Bucks to close the season, as well as have a few other outcomes swing in their favor.
We're not going to speculate on when Embiid may or may not return, as the team said it will provide further updates when it's appropriate. Let's hope that we haven't already seen the last of him this season.