Joel Embiid-less Sixers come in ranked #1 in ESPN’s Power Rankings

The Philadelphia 76ers have risen to the top of ESPN’s latest edition of their Power Rankings.

The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that has a lot of talent and they have aspirations of winning a championship at the end of the season in July. Led by a new coach in Doc Rivers and led by their star duo, they have risen to the top of the Eastern Conference.

However, the Sixers have been winning games even while their MVP candidate, Joel Embiid, is out with a bone bruise in his left knee. Philadelphia has been able to overcome his absence and be able to pull out victories thanks to the play of Tobias Harris as well as the defense of Ben Simmons and the rest of the roster stepping up.

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Their recent success, along with the fall of others, has the Sixers sitting at the top of the power rankings as ESPN ranks them number 1 in their latest edition:

Philly has maintained the top spot in the Eastern Conference without Joel Embiid for the past week, picking up three wins to stay a game ahead of the Nets. They head west this week — including two games in L.A. against the Lakers and Clippers — as president of basketball operations Daryl Morey weighs how big of a swing he should take to increase his team’s chances of making it out of the East.

The Sixers will continue to face tough tests ahead as they continue on with their road trip. They started it off with a win over the New York Knicks on Sunday, but now they head out West to take on the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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