Sixers vs. Celtics: First Round Schedule and Potential Joel Embiid Return

Playoff basketball is back on the Sixers’ calendar and it feels like a miracle after what we just sat through.

The Sixers clinched a playoff spot Wednesday night by beating the Magic in the play-in tournament. They’re the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed and will draw the No. 2 Celtics in the first round.

Game 1 tips Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. Here’s the full schedule for the best-of-seven series. Start times for Games 5 through 7 will drop later if we get there.

Sixers vs Celtics: Playoff Schedule

• Game 1: Sunday, April 19 at Boston, 1 p.m. ET on ABC
• Game 2: Tuesday, April 21 at Boston, 7 p.m. ET on Peacock/NBCSN
• Game 3: Friday, April 24 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime
• Game 4: Sunday, April 26 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ET on NBC
• Game 5: Tuesday, April 28 at Boston
• Game 6: Thursday, April 30 at Philadelphia
• Game 7: Saturday, May 2 at Boston

Boston or Bust: Playoff-bound Sixers get the Celtics in round one >>

The Sixers and Celtics split their four-game regular-season series, which kicked off with that brilliant comeback win by the Sixers on opening night.

Remember that game? Feels like 10 years ago.

Even with Jayson Tatum out until March recovering from a ruptured Achilles, the Celtics still went 56-26 and finished 11 games above the Sixers in the standings. The Sixers are chasing their first playoff series win against Boston since 1982.

They have lost to the Celtics in 1985, 2002, 2012, 2018, 2020, and 2023. Six straight series losses. This rivalry has been a one-way beatdown for my entire life.

What about Joel Embiid…?

Nobody has any real clue what is going on with Joel Embiid. He had surgery on April 9th. But here’s where my blood oath Trust The Process brain starts whirring. Game 3 is Friday, April 24 in South Philly.

That’s just over the two-week mark and sounds unlikely, if not impossible.

I know the medical literature says three to six weeks for a return to strenuous activity after a laparoscopic appendectomy. I know Skip Bayless is out there making stuff up about Embiid being cleared and refusing to play, which is complete garbage.

I also know this guy has played through worse. He has played through significantly worse. And if the Sixers are down 0-2 coming home to Philadelphia, and Embiid feels like he can give the team anything at all, he’s going to push for it.

Ideally it happens by Game 2 on the 21st. That’s my dream scenario. Realistically, a Game 3 return at Xfinity Mobile Arena in front of a home crowd that has been starving for playoff basketball feels like the sweet spot.

Either way, the Sixers earned their shot at this. They punched their ticket the hard way. Now they have to go into Boston on Sunday and announce themselves. Nobody outside of South Philly is giving them a prayer in this series.

That’s exactly the kind of setup this team should be hungry for.

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