Atlanta travels to face Philly, ailing Embiid

Joel Embiid has already missed 19 games this season and he’s currently dealing with a sore right shoulder.

More than once Monday in Philadelphia’s 121-90 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, Embiid could be seen clutching the top of his right arm.

As the 76ers (40-21) prepare to host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, how do they balance the health of their MVP candidate?

The playoffs are obviously more important than the balance of the regular season, yet playoff seeding has value as well as the 76ers head into play Tuesday in second place in the Eastern Conference.

“I’ve learned long ago until someone tells me, one of the trainers, I’ve gotten out of that guessing game if you know what I mean,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s our trainers and our medical people’s job to tell me, ‘Hey, get him out or he shouldn’t play.’”

Embiid scored 21 points in the blowout win against the rebuilding Thunder, who lost their 14th in a row. The Embiid health challenge, even against the short-handed Hawks, will be much more daunting as every team battles for playoff position.

“I literally don’t get involved in it,” Rivers said. “I think it’s a bad place for coaches to be because we would tell them to go play all the time. I think it’s a lot smarter to allow people with far better knowledge than me to tell me, ‘He’s good, he can play, keep going.’ It’s made it easier for me as well.”

The Sixers received a major boost from Ben Simmons, who returned from a fourgame absence with an illness to score 12 points. More importantly, he looked fresh.

“He’s been big for us all year,” teammate Tobias Harris said of Simmons. “The games that he was out, we missed that dynamic piece out there.”

The Hawks (34-28) will look to rebound after a disappointing 100-86 loss on the road against the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

The Hawks were only 4-of27 (14.8%) from 3-point range in their lowest point total all season.