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Tim Bontemps
Multiple Authors
Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid is undergoing emergency surgery in Houston on Thursday after being diagnosed with appendicitis a few hours before the team was set to face the Rockets in a pivotal late regular-season clash.
The team announced Embiid’s surgery a few hours after he was suddenly added to the injury report as being out with an illness ahead of Thursday’s game — one that the Sixers need to win as they fight to avoid the Eastern Conference play-in tournament next week.
It’s unclear when Embiid would be able to return to the court.
“It is a tough blow,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I think that the biggest thing right now is that Joel comes out of the surgery as best as possible and all that goes well. That’s where most of my thoughts are right now.”
Nurse said Embiid felt fine in practice on Wednesday but his condition changed overnight. He remained in surgery about 90 minutes before the start of Thursday’s game.
“I was told this morning, but they had said that he had in the middle of the night — like 3 [a.m.], 3:30 [a.m.] or something — contacted them to say he was not feeling well,” Nurse said. “And so I think that’s kind of when this particular incident started.”
Nurse said the team learned of Embiid’s diagnosis while preparing for the game.
“They finally got him to the doctor and they had the scan and then decided they needed to do the surgery here in Houston,” Nurse said.
Embiid, 32, is averaging 26.9 points and 7.7 rebounds in 38 games this season as he has slowly begun to regain his MVP-level form after a lost season a year ago in which he played only 19 ineffective games before being shut down due to ongoing issues with his left knee.
Philadelphia has dealt with a series of absences from its star players this season, with Paul George returning just a couple of weeks ago from a 25-game NBA suspension.
Entering Thursday’s games, the 76ers (43-36) are one game behind the sixth-place Toronto Raptors with three games remaining in the regular season as they try to avoid the postseason play-in tournament.
The Sixers then have games Friday against Indiana and Sunday against Milwaukee — teams firmly focused on improving their draft lottery positioning.
It’s much more likely Philadelphia will ultimately wind up in the play-in tournament, however, with Embiid’s uncertain status moving forward. Next week’s play-in games would take place either Tuesday (for the 7-8 game) or Wednesday (9-10 game) and then Friday (8-9 game).
Nurse said it’s on him to keep the team upbeat with the postseason approaching.
“We’ve got to pick ourselves up,” Nurse said. “I’m the leader of the team, I’ve got to pick the guys up and they’ll understand the situation and we’ve got to be professional and we’ve got to go try to figure it out the best we can.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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