BOSTON -- As the Philadelphia 76ers move forward in their playoff series with the Boston Celtics, they will continue to miss Joel Embiid, but the Sixers did offer up an important update in his recovery before the team convened for practice on Monday afternoon.

Embiid underwent an appendectomy on April 9, which is a lengthy recovery process for anybody, let alone an NBA player, and will remain sidelined for a bit, but the Sixers announced that he has begun his strength and conditioning program. That doesn't mean he is all of a sudden going to be cleared and ready to return, there are a lot of steps that he has to clear, but this is a positive sign for Embiid and the Sixers.

Joel Embiid has started his strength and conditioning program #Sixers

Until anything changes with Embiid, the Sixers will continue to rely on second-year big man Adem Bona as well as 14-year veteran Andre Drummond. Philadelphia will need them to step up and help the Sixers steal one in Game 2 on Tuesday before the series shifts to the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers injury news: Latest update on the recovering Joel Embiid