Doc Rivers Assumes Sixers Center Joel Embiid Will Play vs. Magic on Friday

After struggling in Miami, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers is under the assumption that Joel Embiid will play in the Sixers' matchup against the Magic on Friday.

Earlier this week, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid came down with an illness. When the Sixers got together for a practice session on Monday before taking off to Indiana, Embiid was not a part of the group's activities.

Embiid wasn't in the NBA's health and safety protocol as he wasn't dealing with any illness related to COVID-19. When the Sixers packed up and traveled to Indiana after practice on Monday, though, Embiid remained in Philly.

The following night, the Sixers took on the Indiana Pacers without their All-Star center in the lineup. Although he was questionable going into the matchup, the Sixers ruled Embiid out hours before tip-off as he never made the trip.

It was too early for Doc Rivers and the 76ers to assume Embiid wouldn't play on Thursday. As the Sixers remained on the road and traveled to South Beach for a battle against the Miami Heat, the team left the door open for the big man's potential return once again.

On Thursday, Embiid was questionable, but he did make the trip to Florida with intentions of playing. A couple of hours before tip, Rivers confirmed the big man would give it a go against the Heat on Thursday night.

Based on how he and the rest of the team played, that probably wasn't a great idea. From the gate, the Sixers looked flat against a highly motivated Miami Heat team that wanted to set the tone early and often. Coming off of an illness, Embiid hardly looked like himself in the 25 minutes he played as he scored just six points on nine shots and collected only two rebounds in comparison to Bam Adebayo's 12 boards. 

Considering the Sixers are playing again on Friday night, one might think Embiid could sit out since he didn't look like himself on Thursday. However, Doc Rivers doesn't seem to believe that will be the case.

"I'm assuming everybody is fine for tomorrow," Rivers said on Thursday when talking about the upcoming matchup against the Orlando Magic. "We wouldn't play [Joel Embiid] if he wasn't one-hundred percent. Joel, nobody played well, so I would love to say it was Joel, Ben, or Tobias. . . I thought we all were bad. We all looked like we were stuck in the mud tonight. No explanation for it, but that's how it looked."

The Sixers flew back to Philly following Thursday night's beatdown in South Beach. While Embiid's playing status remains unclear, it seems there is a chance of him getting redemption on Friday night as Rivers believes he could possibly play again.

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