The Philadelphia 76ers have a huge headache right now on the Joel Embiid injury front as they prepare for Monday's Game 1 matchup against the Boston Celtics. Embiid suffered a sprained LCL in his right knee in the Sixers' series-clinching Game 4 win over the Brooklyn Nets, and he's now in danger of missing their series-opener against Boston in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Sixers veteran PJ Tucker has now opened up about Embiid's potential absence in Game 1. Tucker has acknowledged how big a loss Embiid will be for Philly and how the injury absence of their superstar big man will force them to change their battle plan against the mighty Celtics:

“This is the series that we’ve all been waiting for all year,” Tucker said, via Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “And for us to not know if he’s gonna play, yeah, that sucks because we’ve run everything through him.

“So it’s almost like we have to figure out another way to play because the way we [want to] play, we are not going to be able to play.”

This is not what Sixers fans want to hear right now. Unfortunately for them, this is the harsh reality they're facing at the moment with Joel Embiid already listed as doubtful for Game 1. At this point, Philly has no other choice but to prepare to battle Jayson Tatum and Co. without their best player available on the court. Hopefully, Embiid is able to recover in time to return at some point. Otherwise, this series could be shorter than most folks expect.