Sixers coach Brett Brown doesn’t want to talk about Joel Embiid’s injury, but that doesn’t make the problem go away

Brett Brown does not want to talk about Joel Embiid’s injury or his status, which is still uncertain for Game 1 of the 76ers’ first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets.

“Are we going to keep talking about this?” Brown asked after a couple of Embiid-related questions came his way on Friday. “I wish we would talk about Brooklyn.”

The thing is, going up against the Nets with Embiid available is much different than facing them without Embiid. That isn’t going away just because Brown doesn’t want to get wires crossed like he did the other night.

When Sixers general manager Elton Brand addressed the media on Wednesday, he said “it’s possible” Embiid wouldn’t be ready for Game 1. When Brown was asked about Embiid after that night’s regular-season finale, he said he expected to have his starters for Game 1. Then, when pressed, he shut down Embiid-related questions.

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What Brown wants to focus on, rather than continuing to talk about the availability of Embiid, is making sure the Sixers have a solid plan going into the playoffs. But, that plan will largely be impacted by Embiid’s status.

“You have to go into this with a psychological stability,” Brown said. “It’s a series. It happens over time, and I just want to get vanilla right at the start, get home base right. Then we’ll make adjustments and figure out matchups and so on.”

Brown said he wants a solid Plan A and Plan B. He noted that moving away from those initial plans and acting in a reactionary way would be to the detriment of the team.

Going in with a solid game plan sounds great, but behind Embiid there are even more question marks. Somewhere between Boban Marjanovic, Jonah Bolden (who is also dealing with left knee soreness), Greg Monroe, Amir Johnson, and a small-ball lineup, the Sixers will need to find a way to fill in any gaps if Embiid doesn’t play.

To date. it’s still unclear what direction Brown will go in, especially if Bolden is also unavailable on Saturday.

“We’ve had sample sizes with Boban and little sample sizes with Greg, and Jonah I hope is going to play as a live man,” Brown said. “They’re all different, everyone of those three are different.”

That’s absolutely true. You get lateral quickness and athleticism with Bolden, a reliable post-up option with Marjanovic, and a strong body with capable rim protection in Monroe. With Embiid, you get all three of those skill sets.

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This all could end up being moot if Embiid decides that he feels well enough to play on Saturday. But he did not sound confident on Friday when he said that the pain in his left knee has been getting worse.

“Everybody who knows me, knows I want to be on the floor and play through injuries and pain,” he said. “But if I can’t go, it means it is pretty painful.”

That’s a much different tone than last season, when Embiid was complaining on social media about the Sixers babying him after a concussion and orbital-bone fracture kept him out of the first two playoff games against the Miami Heat.

Right now, the situation seems ominous. It’s understandable that Brown doesn’t want harp on something that is uncertain and could be a blow to the team. But no matter how much Brown doesn’t want to talk about it, this situation could really change the Sixers’ chances of any kind of deep playoff run.