Embiid to sit two games out of precaution

Joel Embiid says he’s fine, but he will sit Tuesday and Wednesday night as the Sixers exercise caution. The Sixers host Houston Friday night.

CAMDEN, N.J. >> A clumsy spill to the floor, at first believed insignificant, is about to cost the 76ers Joel Embiid for two games.

Embiid suffered a bruised knee Friday in a 93-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Monday he was officially declared “doubtful” for a Tuesday night game against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers. Mere minutes after that report, Brett Brown said the Sixers would not have Embiid for that game.

In addition, Brown said Embiid would not play Wednesday night in Milwaukee. The initial report from the Sixers was that Embiid would not face the Bucks because he was not scheduled to do so, as part of the continuing prohibition of him playing on consecutive nights. Even if he did not play Tuesday, and as such would not have been in a back-to-back situation, Embiid would not have played Wednesday, according to the Sixers.

Considering Embiid did not play Saturday in Atlanta in a back-to-back concession, he will have missed three games by the time he next appears, Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center against Houston. That game was shifted from 7 to 8 p.m. to accommodate national television, making it the second time this season Embiid’s playing schedule has been adjusted, deliberately or otherwise, to allow him to maximize his television exposure.

Embiid did not practice Monday, the Sixers said, adding that he “received treatment.” As per league policy, that made him unavailable to the media. Nonetheless, Embiid surfaced after practice in casual dress and shoes to shoot on his own, mostly from three-point range. He exhibited no limp, bandages, crutches or ice bags despite the continued healing of the left knee he bruised in the third quarter of the Portland game. At the time, the injury seemed so insignificant that he actually returned to the game for a short fourth-quarter shift.

According to Embiid, he had an MRI during an in-game visit to the locker room Friday, and it revealed no alarming damage.

“I’m fine,” he said, after playing 22:04 and scoring 18 points against Portland. “The knee is good. They did an MRI and stuff and all was good.”

Brown stresses that Embiid’s week off has not caused deep alarm throughout the organization.

“It’s just precautionary,” the head coach said.

The Sixers also practiced caution with Jahlil Okafor Monday, limiting his participation in practice. The Sixers reported, and Okafor confirmed, that he had “right-knee soreness.” Okafor will play the next two games in place of the missing Embiid, as will Nerlens Noel and Richaun Holmes. Ersan Ilyasova played some at the center position late in the Portland game.

AARON GASH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Sixers’ Joel Embiid, left, going all grins with Milwaukee’s Michael Beasley in a game last Monday, will miss the next two games due to an injury, the Sixers say.