Joel Embiid Could Miss Wednesday's Game vs. Heat

Just as the Philadelphia 76ers started getting healthier, the team suffered a couple of minor setbacks heading into Monday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Leading up to the start of the matchup, the Sixers had a clean injury report for the most part, as all of their nightly rotational players weren't listed.

But just a couple of minutes before the game started, Sixers center Joel Embiid became a late scratch. He wasn't the only one, either. Roughly 30 minutes before tip-off, the Sixers submitted their starting lineup, which contained Furkan Korkmaz, who typically comes off the bench.

Korkmaz replaced Sixers' starting shooting guard Seth Curry as the sharpshooter was dealing with shoulder soreness, according to a team official. And although Embiid was initially listed as Philadelphia's starting center in Memphis on Monday night, he never suited up to play.

Embiid was dealing with rib soreness, per a team official. Lately, the Sixers center hasn't hidden his abdominal pain. During last Thursday's game at home against the Utah Jazz, Embiid was seen grabbing at and stretching out his abdomen. 

Eventually, the star center exited the court and went back to the locker room to get everything checked out. Fortunately, Embiid was given the green light to return to the court after the team didn't find anything to be alarming.

Despite leaving last Thursday's game, Embiid dodged the injury report for the following game at home against the Golden State Warriors. Although he was sometimes seen clutching on his abdomen, Embiid still finished the game with 33 minutes on the court as the Sixers stunned the Warriors.

While the Sixers center avoided the injury report leading up to Monday's game, he was still ruled out late. Now, there's a chance he could miss back-to-back games as he's questionable leading up to Wednesday night's matchup against the Miami Heat for the same reasons. Embiid will likely be a game-time decision before the Sixers and the Heat tip-off at 7:00 pm in South Philly.

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