Deadspin | Without star Joel Embiid, Sixers set to visit Pacers

Apr 9, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe (77) and forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) talk with NBA referee Eric Dalen (37) during the second quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

With an unfortunate development for star Joel Embiid looming over them, the Philadelphia 76ers will try to pull out of a three-game slide when they meet the Indiana Pacers on Friday night in Indianapolis.

Philadelphia (43-37) learned that the former NBA MVP needed an appendectomy on Thursday before the team faced the Houston Rockets.

“We had an unbelievable day as a team [on Wednesday]. We had a great practice, a great film session, we were getting up and down the court, and [Embiid] was a part of all of that,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse told reporters on Thursday. “That’s what hits you in the stomach a little bit when you get that news.”

Without their standout center, who is out indefinitely, the Sixers lost 113-102 to the Rockets to fall into a virtual tie with the Charlotte Hornets for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia and Charlotte both have clinched a postseason berth and have just two games remaining in the regular season as they jockey for postseason positioning.

Coming off lopsided losses at home to Detroit last Saturday and at San Antonio on Monday, the Sixers made a few late-game pushes after trailing the Rockets by as many as 28 points. Rookie VJ Edgecombe scored four of his 21 points during an 8-0 run that pulled Philadelphia within five points in the final two minutes before the team ran out of steam.

Edgecombe heads into the final weekend of the regular season having scored in double figures in 10 of the last 11 games, with Thursday marking his sixth game with at least 21 points in that stretch. Edgecombe’s play in March earned him the league Rookie of the Month.

Indiana (19-61) enters Friday’s matchup already doomed to the worst regular-season record in franchise history. Just one year removed from only the second NBA Finals appearance in their existence, the Pacers faced injury woes throughout the 2025-26 campaign.

Depleted Indiana pulled out of a three-game losing skid on Thursday, blowing out Brooklyn 123-94. Obi Toppin scored a season-high 26 points to help power Indiana to 80 points in the paint.

Toppin’s best outing since returning in late February from a 56-game absence due to a stress fracture in his right foot provides a glimmer of optimism for Indiana looking to turn the page to 2026-27. Another positive for the Pacers this week was the return of All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton to 5-on-5 activities.

Haliburton sustained an Achilles’ injury in last June’s seventh game of the NBA Finals vs. Oklahoma City, holding him out this entire season and setting the tone for Indiana’s woes.

The rash of injuries plaguing the Pacers presented opportunities for other players to make a mark and perhaps position themselves well for the future. One such Pacer to capitalize, Jarace Walker, will close 2025-26 with career-best averages for scoring (11.6 points per game) and rebounding (5.2 per game).

Walker also is heading into the closing weekend off of a near-triple-double performance with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on Thursday.

“Positional size in our league is something you always seek out,” Indiana assistant coach Lloyd Pierce said following Thursday’s win. “And Jarace has great size as a three [small forward]. Any time we can put him in [that] position, he can see the floor, but he also has the ability to pass over defenders.”

–Field Level Media

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