Will we see this matchup of Boston's Jayson Tatum vs. Sixers' Joel Embiid? Not tonight, it seems. (AP photo)

San Antonio is waiting for Victor Wembanyama. Philadelphia is waiting for Joel Embiid. The Los Angeles Lakers are waiting for Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Injuries and recoveries are already having a pronounced impact on the NBA playoffs, which continue Friday night with a trio of Game 3 matchups: San Antonio at Portland (series tied 1-1), Boston at Philadelphia (series tied 1-1) and the Lakers at Houston (Los Angeles leading 2-0).

Embiid is also making progress in his comeback after an emergency appendectomy. He’s listed as doubtful for Game 3, but the 76ers still think he can play sometime in the series.

“We’re obviously really hopeful, and I think he’s really hopeful,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said Thursday after Embiid went through a light workout. “He wants to play, and we want him to play. I don’t know how close we are to that at this point, but I think there’s some progress being made. Let’s hope it keeps that way, keeps going that way.”

Tonight (7 p.m. Prime) is a swing game and both teams know it, with the winner of Game 3 after the first two games are split going on to win a best-of-seven series 74% of the time. Philadelphia will be electric for this game, with the city already enjoying a hot start to the playoffs by the NHL’s Flyers and reveling in the 76ers getting what might have been a surprising win in Game 2 in Boston after losing Game 1 by 32 points.

LAKERS VS. ROCKETSS

The Lakers, even without their starting guards (Reaves is questionable for Game 3, suggesting his return from an oblique injury is close), took the first two games against the Rockets — and LeBron James, when put in this situation, has never lost.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka said he’s seen enough good things on defense to believe Houston still has a real chance in the series, noting that 2-0 “is nothing.”

“We’ve all kind of been there before. Things flip quickly in a series,” Udoka said. “We’ve seen some things that work well.”

WHITE WINS SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD

Derrick White of the Boston Celtics is the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award winner for this season, as selected by his fellow players across the league.

White got 20% of the first-place votes from the 386 players who cast ballots. TJ McConnell of the Indiana Pacers — who actually got more first-place votes, almost 22% — was second, while Harrison Barnes of the San Antonio Spurs was third and Al Horford of the Golden State Warriors was fourth.

Barnes and Horford both got 19% of the first-place votes that were cast.

Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat (11% of first-place votes) was fifth and Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — the only repeat finalist from last season — was sixth after getting just under 10% of the first-place votes.

White will receive the Joe Dumars Trophy, named for the Basketball Hall of Famer, a two-time champion and the inaugural winner of the sportsmanship award after the 1995-96 season. Dumars now leads basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans.

“Derrick has represented everything that is good about the game since he entered the league,” Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens said. “The Sportsmanship Award is a deserved honor because of how Derrick consistently carries himself both on and off the court. In every way, Derrick exemplifies what it means to be a Celtic and is more than deserving of this honor.”