Sixers hoping injured Embiid can return to playoffs

The best that Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers could offer Sat- urday about Joel Embiid's possible availability for the Eastern Conference semifinal series against Miami was a two-word answer.

“There's hope,” Rivers said. For now, Philadelphia will cling to that.

The 76ers and Heat both hit the practice floor Saturday to be- gin the process of adjusting for a playoff series that won't have Embiid at the start. The NBA's scoring champion and an MVP finalist this season, has a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion, injuries that were suffered Thursday in a first-round series-clincher at Toronto and were announced Friday night.

Game 1 is Monday in Miami. And the 76ers will be without their center who averaged 30 points per game this season.

“I don't know how you make up for it, but you figure out how to,” Rivers said. “Yeah, I mean, it's just a tough injury. The good news, I guess, is he's had it before. The bad news is there's just no timeline for when he's coming back.”

The Heat went from 4.5-point favorites in Game 1 to 8.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, after the 76ers announced Embiid's latest injuries.

But there were no outward signs of celebration in Miami on Saturday because of Embiid's absence.

“I feel bad for my guy,” said Miami's Jimmy Butler, who played with Embiid in Philadelphia. “Obviously, one of my former teammates. Arguably, the MVP of this league. And I think I speak for everybody that's a part of this team — we want Jo to play. We want to go up against them at full strength and prove that we can hang with anybody and we can beat anybody. It's a mishap. I hope he recovers well, and gets back very, very soon.”

Embiid went through a similar issue — orbital fracture and concussion — in 2018 and missed 10 games, plus needed surgery because of the fracture. The 76ers have not mentioned surgery as a possibility this time around, which would seem to raise the possibility that Embiid could be back quicker than he was four years ago.

LEAGUE FINES SUNS $25K FOR INJURY REPORTING >> The NBA fined the Phoenix Suns fined $25,000 on Saturday for violating injury reporting rules by failing to disclose guard Devin Booker's participation status in an accurate and timely manner before Game 6 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

He returned from a strained right hamstring to help the Suns beat the Pelicans 115-109.