The Sixers remain mum on Joel Embiid’s knee sprain and second-round status vs. Boston Celtics

The 76ers have started to sound like a broken record when discussing Joel Embiid’s injury status. In other words, the Sixers don’t want to share much.

Such was the case Thursday.

Other than repeating what he said Wednesday, Doc Rivers didn’t divulge much about Embiid’s sprained right lateral collateral ligament.

“He’s at the doctors’ now,” the coach said.

Is there any optimism that Embiid will be available to practice before facing the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals?

“You know, I’ve gotten out of that business,” Rivers said. “I’m just going to wait. He’ll call me later. And we’ll see where he’s at.”

» READ MORE: What’s Joel Embiid timeline to return? What steps should he take? A local surgeon weighs in.

Embiid suffered the injury on April 20 in Game 3 of his team’s first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. He became tangled with Cam Johnson and fell to the court while defending the Brooklyn guard on a third-quarter play. He remained in the game, but an MRI revealed the injury the next day.

Embiid was unavailable to play Saturday’s Game 4 when the Sixers closed out the series in a sweep. He also has not practiced with teammates this week. On Tuesday, Embiid watched film with his teammates. then he did some light shooting on the side during Wednesday’s practice.

“He looks great,” Shake Milton said of Embiid’s spirits. “He comes in and is around. I’ve seen him for five years so I’m not worried about it.

“I know whenever Game 1 comes around and he’s available, I know he’s gonna dominate like he always does. With Jo, it’s nothing you really have to worry about. He’s getting his work in and he’s going to be prepared.”

Game 1 of the conference semifinals will be Monday. The Celtics after closing out their first-round series with a 128-120 Game 6 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Thursday at State Farm Arena.

“Jo is always great,” Tobias Harris said. “He’s been good. We’ve been able to see him and just make sure that he’s progressing and whatnot. So yeah, other than that, he’s good.”

» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey has struggled against Boston. He expects to play better if they meet in the second round.

So are the Sixers preparing as if he’ll play on Monday?

“I can’t tell you all that,” Harris said with a straight face before repeating, “I can’t tell you all that.”

Embiid averaged 28.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.7 blocks in 22 career games against the Celtics. In this season’s four meetings vs. Boston, he averaged 36.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.8 blocks.

In their fifth day without a game, the Sixers focused on remaining sharp at Thursday’s practice.

“We scrimmaged a lot today,” Rivers said. “We did some quirky lineups, small lineups, and we did a lot of running at the end. So it’s good. It was a good practice.”

It also appeared to be a spirited practice. At one point, loud voices could be heard coming out of the gym during the closed practice.

“That was the whole practice,” Rivers said. “The second group was playing well. And when they play well, they’re very excited. ... They were just screaming a lot. It was good, though. It was good energy.”