Joel Embiid's Playing Status vs. Cavaliers

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is on pace to have his healthiest season in the NBA. With 15 games left to go in the regular season, Embiid has appeared in 55 games, the most since he played in games during the 2018-2019 season.

While Embiid could wrap up the year with 70 games played, the superstar big man is expected to get a game or two off whether he remains healthy or not.

Late last week, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned that both Embiid and James Harden are expected to get some rest days soon.

"Joel and James, we kind of have a mapped-out game plan for," Rivers said last week. "Danny (Green) is getting rest just because he keeps getting injured, so we don't have to worry about him, but even Tyrese has played a lot of minutes. We probably will rest him a game somewhere. He'll not want that, but we'll probably be good."

At this point, Embiid still hasn't taken a game off. Following Rivers' comments, the All-Star big man went on to play in back-to-back games against the Orlando Magic and the Denver Nuggets. Embiid mentioned that taking off wasn't an option following Monday's game.

"There was no chance," Embiid said regarding the idea of resting on Monday. "I listen to them. I listen to whatever they tell me, and I make the decision. It could've been, but it's a tough game. We gotta measure ourselves against these types of opponents. We gotta play against tough teams and figure out where we really are."

At first, it seemed Embiid wouldn't miss Wednesday's game either. As the Sixers' Tuesday night injury report didn't include Embiid, head coach Doc Rivers mentioned on Wednesday morning, he expected Embiid to play.

However, shortly after, Embiid was added to the injury report. Due to back soreness, Embiid was downgraded to questionable.

When Doc Rivers met with the media for his pregame press conference, he mentioned Embiid was a game-time decision. After going through warmups, Embiid deemed himself ready to play. Therefore, he's been cleared for action and will play against the Cavaliers on Wednesday, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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