The Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Paul George are not ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Cavs

After a tough loss to the newly formed New York Knicks in Joel Embiid’s season debut on Tuesday, the Sixers will face the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Man, who did the Sixers piss off in the league office?

Oh, right. All.

If you’re looking for a positive, head coach Nick Nurse hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Embiid and/or Paul George starting against the Cavs. Nurse said both players will be evaluated in the morning to see how they feel.

George, who had his best game as a Sixer with 29 points on Tuesday, is still under some sort of minutes restriction. He played 32 minutes against the Knicks. He’s not sure how his body will react, but he hasn’t closed the door on the Cleveland game.

“Hopefully I feel really good in the morning and can see where things go from here,” George said.

Embiid was expected to have a lot of rust after not playing in the first nine games of the season. The big star said he felt better after the first five minutes of the game, although he is still developing enough to trust his knee.

When asked about the possibility of him playing on Wednesday, Embiid gave the biggest answer possible.

“I would like [play]”, he said, “but that’s up to us [the medical staff]. I know I said I would never play back to back, but I’m a troll so I’m sure I’ll play in one at some point. But I feel good. I’m feeling good right now. We’ll see, but it’s up to them.”

When Embiid told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps he would “probably never play back-to-back games again,” the NBA world lost its collective mind. It would be the greatest thing Embiid and the Sixers have ever seen if he played both games of the first possible back-to-back — although this reporter is skeptical.

The Sixers are now 2-8 and have some tough games ahead of them. Tyrese Maxey, who Nurse said was doing only light on-field activity before the game, remains out with a hamstring strain. Both Embiid and George need to play to get into shape without losing their long-term health this season.

It’s not time to panic yet, but it’s getting late early.

Update: Both Joel Embiid and Paul George will miss tonight’s game against Cleveland.

This news clearly hurts the Sixers’ chances of handing the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. We’ll see if the league office is happy with this latest bit of roster management from Philadelphia.