Tuesday's NBA matchups: 76ers-Celtics, Trail Blazers-Spurs and Rockets-Lakers are set for Game 2s
Joel Embiid won't be back on the court on Tuesday night to help the Philadelphia 76ers when they attempt to bounce back from a 123-91 loss to the Boston Celtics in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. And it's becoming increasingly less likely that the 7-footer will be available at all during the series. The 76ers had no answers for the second-seeded Celtics in Sunday's Game 1 as Boston rolled to its largest victory margin in a playoff opener.
The 76ers said Monday that Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, is just starting his strength and conditioning program as he continues to recover following an appendectomy on April 9. There is no target date for his return. Meanwhile, Sixers star Tyrese Maxey said getting back on track begins with not dwelling on everything that went wrong in Game 1.
“This is my fifth playoffs, so, losses, whether you lose by 7, 12, 100, they all hurt,” he said. “They all don’t feel good. But this one, it sucks; we didn’t expect this at all.
But we just got to play better. ” Out West, the second-seeded Spurs are feeling great after Victor Wembanyama put up 35 points in his playoff debut during San Antonio's 111-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland interim coach Tiago Splitter said his team needs to find ways to capitalize when Wembanyama is resting.
“I thought we couldn’t make money out of those minutes,” Splitter said. “I think (Spurs backup center Luke) Kornet did a good job defending and grabbing offensive rebounds. I think we’ve got to be better in those minutes for sure.