76ers vs. Nuggets: Joel Embiid's Playing Status on Saturday
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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid popped up on the injury report on Friday night. After the Sixers underwent a practice session after getting the day off on Thursday, the team considered Embiid questionable for Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets due to foot soreness.
Fortunately for the Sixers, Embiid will get the nod to play on Saturday afternoon. The Nuggets matchup marks the second-straight time Embiid was questionable going into a matchup. On Wednesday night, when the Sixers hosted the Brooklyn Nets, Embiid was questionable due to foot soreness.
While Embiid was a shootaround participant earlier in the day, the team still considered him a game-time decision. Roughly 30 minutes before the Sixers and the Nets tipped off, Embiid was cleared for action.
Against Brooklyn, the big man checked in for 35 minutes. He chucked up 18 shots from the field, knocking down just 33 percent of his attempts. He would finish the game with 26 points, producing half of his points from the charity stripe.
The Sixers went on to defeat the Nets by four points, picking up their sixth-straight win. Now, they look to make it seven in a row on Saturday against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
Embiid’s recent foot soreness has been a common concern for the center throughout the year. After he suffered a mid-foot sprain on November 19 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Embiid missed four-straight games.
After playing in 16 straight games, not missing a single game in December, Embiid dealt with foot soreness once again. As a result, he missed three-straight games from January 4 to January 8. On January 10, the big man returned against the Detroit Pistons.
It seems Embiid’s foot soreness will continue to bother the big man for the time being, but it doesn’t seem to be anything severe enough to take him off the floor for an extended period of time.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
