76ers limited to 7 healthy players vs. Nuggets

The Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers announced his team is playing with just seven healthy players Saturday against the Denver Nuggets after ruling out Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post.

Embiid is listed on the injury report as suffering from back stiffness, while Simmons is dealing with knee swelling.

In order to satisfy the NBA's eight-player requirement, the 76ers activated Mike Scott, who was previously listed as out due to a knee contusion. Rivers said Scott also won't see any action.

"An hour ago we were told we were playing," Rivers said earlier Saturday. "We have eight active players. One is Mike Scott, and I can tell you right now there's no way I'm going to play him."

Philadelphia was expected to have nine players available after Embiid, Danny Green, and Paul Reed cleared health and safety protocols earlier Saturday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

There were reported concerns that the game could be postponed due to protocols potentially preventing Philadelphia from dressing the minimum eight players. The team underwent contact tracing after Seth Curry reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, which led to Embiid, Green, Reed, Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Vincent Poirier, and Matisse Thybulle all initially being listed as questionable.

Following Curry's reported test result, all other 76ers tested negative, sources told Wojnarowski. However, protocols kept Harris, Milton, Poirier, and Thybulle out. Terrance Ferguson is also out for personal reasons, while Furkan Korkmaz will not play due to an adductor strain.

Rivers didn't think Philadelphia should be forced to play Saturday.

"I don't think we should," he said, according to Derek Bodner of The Athletic. "But it's not for me to express that. I do worry about our player health."