The Sixers’ best hope is to continue to hope whatever they were hoping when they signed Embiid to that offseason extension. The Sixers did not have the option of tanking this season.

With the Sixers down to an eight-man rotation against Boston Sunday without Gordon, Justin Edwards and Kelly Oubre bore the brunt of the duty. Edwards played a career-high 44 minutes, with 12 points and seven rebounds, plus the duty of chasing around the Celtics’ All-Star corps of wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.