Sixers' Joel Embiid Questionable vs. Pelicans on Friday

The Philadelphia 76ers won't have a fully healthy roster on Friday night as the New Orleans Pelicans come to town. On Thursday night, the Sixers wasted no time ruling out the team's backup sharpshooter, Furkan Korkmaz.

On Monday night, Korkmaz went down with a lower-body injury and was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. He went on to miss Wednesday's victory against the Houston Rockets and will miss his second-straight game versus New Orleans.

In addition to Korkmaz, the Sixers also added another key name to the injury report on Friday. According to the team, 76ers star center Joel Embiid is listed as questionable due to left knee injury recovery.

Lately, Embiid has been quite healthy. Although it took some time for him to get back into a rhythm since going down with a knee injury a couple of months back, the big man revealed that he's been feeling a lot better. Plus, he's finished with using the large knee brace, which bothered him for a notable stretch of games.

Although Embiid is feeling healthy, the Sixers are still cautious with the four-time All-Star. As the 2020-2021 regular season quickly winds down, the Sixers are starting to gear up for the postseason as they've already clinched a spot in the playoffs.

While Philly needs a few more wins before locking in the first seed, they could likely accomplish their next goal without the big man on the floor. Embiid isn't guaranteed to miss Friday's matchup against the Pelicans, but the Sixers would be wise to give him some rest between the back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.

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

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