Joel Embiid expected to be available for 76ers’ play-in game vs. Heat

CAMDEN, N.J. — As the Philadelphia 76ers prepare to host the Miami Heat in a play-in game, Joel Embiid’s injury status is up in the air. But all signs point to Embiid being back in action on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid was held out of the Sixers’ final regular-season game despite Nick Nurse saying before the game that he expected him to play. The head coach said afterward that Embiid was held out as a precautionary measure as he continues recovering from a meniscus injury. As Philly moves into postseason mode and prepares for the Heat, Embiid appears to be all good ahead of Wednesday’s showdown.

Following the 76ers’ practice on Monday afternoon, Nurse said that Embiid was a full participant and that he expects the big man to be available to play on Wednesday, though he didn’t say definitively that he would play.

“I do expect that as of this point,” Nurse said. “Hopefully…Not sure on anybody, but I’m hopeful.”

It goes without saying that Joel Embiid and the 76ers want to get him in the lineup for the play-in game. He has worked his way back from a meniscus injury and played five of the final seven games of Philly’s regular season, looking better in each one before tweaking his knee in the second-to-last game. With Philly guaranteed to at least be in the play-in, Embiid and the team opted to play it safe. A scheduling quirk has given the big man an extra day of rest before facing a physical, well-coached Miami team.

“He was good,” Nurse said of Embiid’s practice. “He was in good spirits. He was highly engaged. A lot of the things we were doing were super game-plan-specific. He was locked in.”

KJ Martin, who missed the Sixers’ last three regular-season games with a toe injury, provided a positive update that suggests he could be available to play on Wednesday, too. In less fortunate injury news, Nurse added that De’Anthony Melton did not participate in Monday’s practice. His updates on Melton and Robert Covington from after the regular-season finale suggested that they will both be sidelined.

If the 76ers beat the Heat, they will earn the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference and begin their first-round matchup with the New York Knicks on Saturday. The loser of the Sixers-Heat game will play either the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Hawks on Friday with the eighth seed on the line.