Joel Embiid Questionable Heading Into Atlanta Hawks Matchup

The trend continues on Saturday night. Outside of the 2021-2022 NBA season opener for the Sixers, star center Joel Embiid has been questionable for every

The trend continues on Saturday night. Outside of the 2021-2022 NBA season opener for the Sixers, star center Joel Embiid has been questionable for every matchup. During the opening minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans last Wednesday, Embiid bumped his knee on another player and was visibly in pain.

At this point, the pain hasn't gone away. According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Embiid struggled to walk for two days after the initial injury occurred. Going into last Friday's matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, Embiid was listed as questionable for the first time this year.

However, the star center played in the Brooklyn matchup, which the Sixers dropped in the final five minutes of the game. Two nights later, Embiid was back on the floor to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. Although it would've been ideal for the Sixers to get Embiid off the floor early, he played for 33 minutes that night.

Then when the Sixers engaged in a physical battle against the New York Knicks, the All-Star big man checked in for 30 minutes in the blowout loss. Many speculated Embiid could miss Thursday's outing against the Detroit Pistons, but he battled through the pain once again and notched a season-high of 30 points in 31 minutes of action.

Embiid's made it apparent that he's not going to miss any games unless his knee gets worse as he wants to be available for his team. Considering he's on the injury report for Saturday's matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, it seems the soreness hasn't gone away. And once again, Embiid is questionable leading up to the matchup.

Recent history says Embiid plays, but you can never be so sure. Over the last four matchups, Embiid and the Sixers have been playing his game status by ear. In the morning, he goes through a shootaround session. Then at night, he goes through pregame warmups. How his knee feels during those two sessions typically determines whether he plays or not. That'll more than likely be the case on Saturday when the Sixers welcome the Hawks back to Philly.

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