76ers' Joel Embiid Injures Shoulder vs. Cavaliers on Wednesday

The Philadelphia 76ers cannot help but find themselves in constant trouble when it comes to injuries. Heading into the NBA All-Star break two weeks ago, the Sixers were slowly getting healthy as they didn't have a single player on the injury report.

That quickly changed, though, as Sixers' point guard Ben Simmons suffered a back injury during the first practice back from the All-Star break. It took some time, but Simmons was eventually diagnosed with a nerve impingement in his lower back. The All-Star guard is now out for at least the next two weeks.

In the meantime, the fifth-seeded Sixers need some of their other starters to step up and fill the void of Simmons. The two players who Brett Brown highlighted when discussing the situation happened to be the starting center Joel Embiid and the starting forward Tobias Harris.

The Sixers were facing yet, another situation without Simmons on Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both Harris and Embiid were healthy and available to play, but that situation wouldn't last long as the Sixers' All-Star center left early on.

After colliding with Cleveland's Ante Zizic, Joel Embiid was visibly in pain as he kept grabbing at his shoulder late in the first quarter. Zizic was whistled for a foul, and Embiid went to the line for two shots. After missing both free throws, Sixers' guard Furkan Korkmaz was ordered to foul by Coach Brown so Embiid could leave the floor.

The Sixers' center ran off to the locker room to get his shoulder checked out and eventually returned a couple of minutes into the second quarter. Since leaving, Embiid has been diagnosed with a left shoulder sprain and is ruled out for the game. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_