Joel Embiid made a gutsy return from an appendectomy. The 76ers are still in trouble against Boston
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid presumed he had a wretched stomach bug that hit him hard for a day or two on the Philadelphia 76ers' road trip earlier this month in Texas. The 7-footer from Cameroon became so debilitated by the ailment that he struggled walking, stayed awake deep into the night and even going to the bathroom became a chore. Embiid was finally forced to tell team officials this sickness was worse than food poisoning or any other malady he suspected, and he required a hospital visit.
The test results almost seemed preordained for bad news for Embiid around NBA playoff time. One of the dominant big men of his era when healthy, Embiid has had a postseason career curtailed by a cornucopia of injuries — sprains, fractures, even facial paralysis — and this April was no exception. Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on April 9 after the two-time NBA scoring champion was stricken with appendicitis overnight and sidelined indefinitely.
No Sixers' stretch run . No play-in tournament game. He watched from the bench as the Sixers went down 2-1 to Boston in their first-round series.
“You probably go through a couple of days where you feel bad for yourself,” Embiid said late Sunday. “Then it’s right back to it. Are you going to give up or are you going to try and come back as early as possible?
” Embiid indeed returned early and was welcomed by a roaring ovation in Game 4 only 17 days after having surgery, desperate to give the Sixers the punch — scoring, rather than gut — needed to try to upset a Celtics team that beat the Sixers by 32 points in a Game 1 victory . The result was familiar, the 76ers again lost by 32, 128-96 on Sunday night and now trail the series 3-1 headed into Game 5 on Tuesday night in Boston. Embiid had 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes, a gutsy effort in his latest return from injury that the Sixers otherwise did little to suggest they could win the next three games.
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