Joel Embiid is questionable for Wednesday, Paul George is back, and out of nowhere, the Sixers are getting healthy at the right time.

Promising news from the Sixers as we enter the final weeks of the regular season. Joel Embiid has been officially listed as questionable for Wednesday night’s game against the Bulls and Paul George is officially back from suspension.

Embiid participated in Monday’s shootaround and did a post-shootaround workout on the Xfinity Mobile Arena floor afterward. After missing over a month with a right oblique strain, a return appears to be imminent.

Paul George is also back. His 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy ends Wednesday and he will be in the lineup against Chicago. The Sixers could get two major pieces back in the same night against a Bulls team that is 29-42 and missing Jaden Ivey, Zach Collins, Noa Essengue, and several others who are listed as doubtful.

Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. are still out but both are expected back within the next week. Quentin Grimes is questionable with an illness, which maybe it’s just me, but I feel like he’s is constantly sick, right? I mean seriously, get this guy some vitamin C already.

Anyways, the roster is obviously not whole yet but it is moving in the right direction quickly with 10 games left in the regular season, so that’s a good.

On top of that, the standings have been working in the Sixers’ favor. The Magic have lost six straight. The Heat have lost five straight. The Sixers sit at 39-33 in the 7th seed, one game behind Atlanta for sixth and 1.5 games behind Toronto for fifth.

The play-in picture is tightening in the Sixers favor while everyone around them keeps stumbling and there’s an easy opportunity to rise 2-3 seeds over the last few weeks of the regular season.

Updated Standings: Sixers holding strong in the No. 7 seed

Ten games left. The goal is simple. Get healthy, climb out of the play-in, and see what this team actually looks like when it is whole.

When Embiid is healthy and available he averages 26.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Add George, Maxey, and Oubre back into that mix and the Eastern Conference suddenly does not look as scary as it did a month ago.

The East is genuinely wide open right now and a healthy Sixers team is a real problem for someone in that bracket. Whether that ends in heartbreak or a parade down Broad Street is another conversation entirely.

Getting healthy first is the only thing that matters right now and for the first time in weeks, it is actually happening.

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