NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers will pay a visit to the New York Knicks on Sunday night, it will make game No. 64 of the season. Philadelphia is standing at 35-28 at the moment as it has been dealt a tough hand.
Joel Embiid has missed 29 games on the season and has not played since Jan. 29 due to a meniscus procedure in his left knee. Tyrese Maxey has missed time as of late due to a concussion. De’Anthony Melton has missed a ton of time due to a back issue. Robert Covington has missed time due to a knee issue.
Then, there’s the big trades to acquire Buddy Hield and Cam Payne as well as the buyout addition of Kyle Lowry. One has to wonder whenever Embiid does return, will the Sixers have enough time to build chemistry?
“We’re missing Joel,” Lowry said on Friday following a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. “We’ve missed Tyrese the last couple of games. I think we have time to figure it out, but you know, we just want to get healthy and get to a position where we can compete.”
Chemistry is an underrated aspect of an NBA team. The Sixers are currently working on integrating Hield into the fabric of what they want to accomplish and then when Embiid returns, there will be a bit of an adjustment there as well.
“That’s the only time we have,” added Tobias Harris. “So, we gotta figure it out, but do I feel like that gives us enough time? Of course.”
One has to assume that Embiid will return sometime at the end of March. There hasn’t been an official update on the big fella yet, but his procedure is normally a 6-to-8-week recovery. Just to play hypotheticals, say he returns on March 27 when Philadelphia returns from a West Coast trip. Is that enough time to get everybody on the same page? Only time will tell.
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