On Sunday night, the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 in Game 4 of their first-round series as Joel Embiid returned from an appendectomy. The former NBA MVP would finish the game with 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes of play.
After the game, Embiid spoke about doing his best given how he was feeling.
“You try to do the best job possible with the conditions,” Embiid said. “You’ve still got to go out there and try and play and win a basketball game. We didn’t do that tonight. We didn’t play well.”
After the game, the NBA world was quick to point out that the Sixers looked significantly worse with Embiid back in the lineup, prompting a conversation about where Philadelphia goes from here.
NBA World Reacts to Joel Embiid’s Impact on 76ers
“I thought he had a lot of good looks,” coach Nick Nurse said of Embiid. “A lot of them went in and out. That wasn’t certainly helping our offense.”
The general consensus seemed to be that the 76ers looked better when Embiid was sidelined.
“It’s wild how much worse the 76ers are when Embiid plays,” wrote BostonConnr of ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
It’s wild how much worse the 76ers are when Embiid plays
— Football (@BostonConnr) April 27, 2026
The Ringer podcast host Raheem Palmer posted that it’s time for the 76ers to cut ties with Embiid.
“It’s time for the Embiid era in Philadelphia to end,” he said. “Love him to death as he’s given us his all for 10 years but he’s had tremulously awful injury luck for his entire career and I’d like to see both him and franchise move on. The 76ers will be better off not planning their future around an injury prone star & maybe Embiid can find a place where he doesn’t truly need to be relied upon and can be a luxury for a championship contender.”
It’s time for the Embiid era in Philadelphia to end. Love him to death as he’s given us his all for 10 years but he’s had tremulously awful injury luck for his entire career and I’d like to see both him and franchise move on. The 76ers will be better off not planning their future…
— Raheem Palmer (@iamrahstradamus) April 27, 2026
“There’s no way the 76ers are gonna ride it out with Embiid [and] this core after this, they’re going to trade Embiid, right?” one influencer asked.
Victor Williams, host of “The Philly Pod,” added: “Sixers are back to not knowing how to function without Embiid on the floor.”
Others were more specific, pointing out that Embiid was slowing down the 76ers’ offense.
“idk Joel Embiid just kinda slowed Philly down tbh,” CBS Sports’ Ashley Nicole Moss wrote.
“Embiid hasn’t even been bad, but it’s clear he’s not 100% and has killed the pace the 76ers were playing with, which was giving the Celtics real problems,” one NBA observer added.
Embiid hasn’t even been bad, but it’s clear he’s not 100% and has killed the pace the 76ers were playing with which was giving the Celtics real problems.
— Fitzmagic13 (@fitzmagic13) April 26, 2026
Celtics insider Marc D’Amico added that it must have been demoralizing for the Sixers to finally get back their MVP only to get destroyed by the Celtics at home.
“How demoralizing do you think it is to get your former MVP back into the lineup, and then you just get demolished at home?” he asked.
How demoralizing do you think it is to get your former MVP back into the lineup, and then you just get demolished at home?
— Marc D’Amico (@Marc_DAmico) April 27, 2026
After the game, Embiid was candid about the loss.
“You probably go through a couple of days where you feel bad for yourself,” he admitted. “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?”
Game 5 will be on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET as the Sixers try to keep their season alive.
