Freshly minted 2023 Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid is likely to make his return to the court for the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, according to new reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“After winning MVP (Tuesday) night, during a quick 76ers celebration … Embiid turned to the team and said: ‘I’m back.’,” wrote Charania. “Embiid is indeed on track to return tonight in Game 2 vs. Celtics barring setbacks.”
Buy Celtics TicketsThe Sixers center, who has been sidelined with an LCL sprain of his knee for just under two weeks, sat out Game 1 against the Celtics while James Harden and Tyrese Maxey carried the contest in his absence to go up 1-0 in the series without him.
There had been speculation that Embiid might take advantage of the potential to rest with said advantage, but he appears ready to try his luck with the rest he has had.
Celtics Lab 186: What went wrong in Game 1 for Boston, and what we’ll see in Game 2 to fix it with Barry Ebua https://t.co/FV7PCnwqmE
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 2, 2023
We will likely see the impact of the 2023 MVP in the series for the first time on Wednesday night — albeit perhaps a bit slow and braced up — sometime after tipoff at 8 p.m. ET.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
