In the wake of Joel Embiid’s injury, the Philadelphia 76ers must find a way to stay afloat without arguably the best player in the game.
Embiid was diagnosed with a meniscus injury in his left knee and will be out through at least the weekend. That means he will certainly miss Saturday’s contest with the Brooklyn Nets as the Sixers figure out the best treatment plan. He will most likely miss more time than just Saturday’s game.
The Sixers received big contributions from up and down the roster in Thursday’s win over the Utah Jazz. Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 51 points. Tobias Harris added 28 and 10 rebounds. Kelly Oubre Jr., Patrick Beverley, Paul Reed and Mo Bamba all made big plays down the stretch.
“I think that obviously Tyrese, Tobias are kind of our focal points of our offense anyway even with Joel out there and obviously shift up a gear,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters. “We really need Kelly to now kind of make sure he’s involved and he’s got to kind of play the Tobias role where he’s got to be in the 16-to-20-plus range, right? And we got to make sure we get him in enough action to do that.”
The Sixers are 4-9 when Embiid sits. While Philadelphia isn’t certain if the reigning league MVP will miss a week or a month, it will need other players to step up if it is to win. The Sixers cannot afford to slide in the Eastern Conference standings anymore than they already have.
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