Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will undergo surgery on Thursday in Houston. The team announced the news ahead of its game against the Rockets. Embiid, after not being on the initial injury report, was declared out with an illness earlier Thursday.
The Sixers didn’t give a timeline for Embiid’s return, but said “further updates will be provided as appropriate.” Embiid reported feeling ill to the team on Thursday morning, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones.
Embiid played in the Sixers’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday and logged 34 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in 39 minutes. Embiid played through illness on March 30 against the Miami Heat and was held out of the team’s next game against the Washington Wizards because of the illness. He returned to the lineup on April 3 and then was held out the next night as it was the second game in a back-to-back.
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With the loss to the Spurs on Monday, the Sixers fell to 43-36 with three regular-season games remaining. Embiid, when on the court, has been stringing together strong performances as of late for a Sixers team that was starting to get everyone healthy at the right time.
The 76ers are fighting to avoid the Play-In Tournament and enter Thursday night’s game with the Rockets in the No. 8 spot in the East. They’re only 1.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 5 seed, as well as one game behind the No. 6 seed Toronto Raptors and a half-game back of the Orlando Magic, who occupy the No. 7 seed.
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