Joel Embiid made his long-awaited return Tuesday night in the Sixers’ 109-105 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He now has six regular-season games left—including a back-to-back on Apr. 6 and 7—to play his way back into basketball shape before the postseason begins.
The Sixers are 1.5 games behind the Miami Heat for the No. 7 seed in the East and two games behind the Indiana Pacers for the No. 6 seed. In other words: They likely need to go 6-0 or 5-1 at worst to have any chance of avoiding the Play-In Tournament.
Winning the 7-8 game would likely earn the Sixers a first-round date with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks.