Doc Rivers: 'No Cap' on Joel Embiid vs. Miami Heat in Game 3

On Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers will take the floor to face the Miami Heat for the third game of their second-round series. As Philadelphia's star

On Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers will take the floor to face the Miami Heat for the third game of their second-round series. As Philadelphia's star center Joel Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a concussion on top of his torn thumb ligament last week, the big man missed the first two matchups of the series earlier this week.

All along, Embiid was expected to miss Games 1 and 2 as he didn't travel with the team last Sunday afternoon. Without Embiid on the court, the Sixers put on a respectable effort, but they struggled on both sides of the ball and couldn't make it out of Miami with a win.

Going into Game 3, reports indicated that the Sixers had hoped Embiid could return to action, but Sixers head coach Doc Rivers made it clear that there were still hurdles for the five-time All-Star to overcome before that happened.

When the 76ers released their injury report on Thursday night, Embiid was ruled out. But when the Sixers took the court in Camden, New Jersey, for a shootaround session on Friday morning, Embiid participated as he was cleared from the NBA's concussion protocol.

Following Embiid's shootaround session on Friday morning, the big man was upgraded from out to doubtful. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Sixers were optimistic about Embiid's playing status following the morning session.

Less than two hours before tip-off on Friday, Doc Rivers addressed reporters for his routine pregame press conference. At that point, he was still unsure of Embiid's status and practically deemed him a game-time decision. 

After going through his routine pregame warmups for the first time since Game 6 of the first round, Embiid felt comfortable enough to push through the pain and play on Friday night. Now that the Sixers know they'll have their big man on board for the first time during the second-round series, Doc Rivers doesn't anticipate the five-time All-Star to have restrictions unless he deals with an in-game setback.

Joel Embiid takes the court for warmups with his mask #Sixers pic.twitter.com/XytCg0e7oc

— Justin Grasso (@JGrasso_) May 6, 2022

“There’s no cap," said Rivers before the game. "There is no cap. It’s all visual. We have people watching too, who will come to me at halftime and hopefully, not during the first or second quarter during the game, and that’s happened before, and they'll just tell me that they don’t like something.”

Doc Rivers hasn't seen Embiid do much lately as he's been unable to work out, considering he's been in the concussion protocol. But as long as Embiid's healthy enough to take the floor, the big man is expected without limitations as long as he's feeling up for the challenge, according to Rivers. 

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