Joel Embiid's Injury Forces Sixers Center to Miss Thursday's Matchup with Celtics

Sixers center Joel Embiid will be forced to miss Thursday's matchup against the Boston Celtics.

The talk of South Philly this past Monday night happened to be the on-court incident involving Philadelphia 76ers center, Joel Embiid. Since Embiid is an often-injured big man at this point in his career, any time he leaves the court with an injury, it becomes big-time news.

The first time he left the court during Monday's game against the Thunder, Embiid didn't have anything wrong with him, according to the team doctors. He was just experiencing pain in his hand. Therefore, the Sixers' center pushed through the pain and attempted to finish the game.

Moments after returning, Embiid ended up receiving gasps from the crowd as his finger was clearly dislocated after he attempted to block a shot. Once again, he went back to the locker room to get everything checked out.

Surprisingly, Embiid wouldn't get ruled out for the remainder of the game. After getting his finger popped back into place, the Sixers' All-Star center made it back out onto the court to finish the game. He played a total of 32 minutes and accounted for 18 points, eight assists, and nine total rebounds in the win over the Thunder.

Following the game, Embiid was willing to speak with the media. That's when he revealed his finger was dislocated, and he would have to undergo further tests before announcing he's able to play or not in Thursday's matchup with the Boston Celtics.

The Sixers say Joel Embiid is out tomorrow against Boston because of his dislocated left ring finger, but no update beyond that as to his condition. The Celtics will see a lot of old friend Al Horford.

Also, rookie Matisse Thybulle is healthy & will play tomorrow against Boston.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 8, 2020

After further evaluation, the Sixers are expectedly going to play it safe and rule Embiid out for Thursday's matchup. According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, the Sixers have diagnosed Embiid with a dislocated ring finger, but aren't willing to reveal any further details at this time.

From what we understand, the seven-footer is still undergoing tests, and they will wait until everything is figured out before the Sixers announce an official timetable for Embiid. Considering he was able to play the rest of the game on Monday, it doesn't seem like Embiid will miss too much time moving forward.

Then again, the Sixers did make it clear they are doing all they can to preserve their big man's health this season so they can have him in tip-top shape for playoffs. When Embiid will get back out on the court is unclear. But one this is for sure -- Thursday's a no-go.