The Philadelphia 76ers are sitting at 4-4 to begin the 2022-23 season, and two of those wins have come when Joel Embiid has been sitting out. They have won three in a row, and they won two on their recent four-game road trip without the big fella.
Embiid missed their win over the Toronto Raptors due to a right knee injury and then he missed Monday’s win over the Washington Wizards due to an illness. The Sixers played much faster in those games, and they put up a lot of points in a hurry, scoring 112 against Toronto and 118 against Washington.
The Sixers need to play with pace. That is the name of the game with this group with athletes such as James Harden and Tyrese Maxey at guard and Tobias Harris on the wing. That has to be the way they play even when Embiid comes back.
“That’s something we got to figure out,” Harden told reporters on Monday. “That’s something that we have to put together and, Joel, whenever he starts to feel better and gets back in the lineup, that’s something that we’ll have to continue to figure out continue to communicate about and trying to find ways to make sure he’s involved, which is easy.”
It is easy to get Embiid the ball. He is 7-foot, after all, and he is an elite offensive player. He can throw the Sixers on his back when the time calls for it.
While he is the offensive hub for this team, the Sixers have to find a way to keep their pace up when he is on the floor with them.
“Especially, for all of us getting him involved, but make sure our spacing is right,” Harden added. “So, myself and Tyrese, our playmakers can get in the paint and draw two and create open shots. So it has to be a balance and whenever he gets better and the more games we can get consistently. We’ll come to terms with it.”
The Sixers will return home on Wednesday to host the Wizards, looking to build off a successful 3-1 trip.
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