As the Philadelphia 76ers move forward in their playoff series with the Boston Celtics, they will continue to miss Joel Embiid, but the Sixers did offer up an important update in his recovery before the team convened for practice on Monday afternoon.

There’s no perfect answer to the Joel Embiid situation, but the Sixers can do better.

The Philadelphia 76ers played their way into the 2026 playoffs thanks to a win over the Orlando Magic. They did it without Joel Embiid in the lineup, with maybe some hope that he'd return if they did make it further into the postseason. So: Will Embiid return to play against the Boston Celtics? The answer for now is: It's unclear.

The Sixers Monday announced that Embiid has started his strength and conditioning program. Sixers say Joel Embiid has started his strength and conditioning program post-appendectomy. Embiid is back in Philly and not with the team in Boston.

The Philadelphia 76ers flipped the script in Game 2, riding a historic rookie performance and clutch scoring to even the series against Boston.