It has been a tough NBA season for the Philadelphia 76ers when it comes to players being sidelined. They still have no timetable for when Ben Simmons will return to the court, but at this point, the team seems to have accepted that.
They are currently 8-3 on the season and in first place in the Eastern Conference. They lost Tobias Harris to health and safety protocols following their game on October 30th against the Atlanta Hawks and ran off four straight wins.
Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe were added to the health and safety protocol list over the weekend, but the team still defeated the Chicago Bulls to run their winning streak up to six games. But, they could have some struggles coming their way.
All-Star center Joel Embiid has now entered health and safety protocols and will be sidelined for at least 10 days. If the game against the New York Knicks on Monday night was any indication, the 76ers are in for some long nights without Embiid in the lineup.
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Philadelphia has an excellent backup center in Andre Drummond that will move into the starting five. He stuffed the stat sheet against the Knicks, scoring 14 points with 25 rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. Despite that, the team still lost the game 103-96.
There could be plenty of more losses in the near future for the Philadelphia 76ers, especially if they are going to be missing three rotation players. There couldn’t have been a worse time for Embiid to miss at least 10 days of action.
The 76ers are hosting the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors before embarking on a six-game road trip. The road trip starts in Indiana and then the team will travel to take on the Utah Jazz after that. Depending on how much time Embiid needs to get up to speed with his conditioning, he could also miss games against the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers.
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That is a brutal stretch of games for Philadelphia to be playing without their best player. The Pacers, who have won three of their last four games, have the worst record of the teams the 76ers are scheduled to face without Embiid in the lineup.
It would not be surprising if we saw the Philadelphia 76ers take a tumble down the Eastern Conference standings in the next 10 days. Given how well teams in the conference have played, even losing just three of the games could knock them down into the 8th spot.
Luckily for Philadelphia, they built a little bit of a buffer in the early season. Going 8-3 thus far, they can withstand losing a handful of games with Embiid sidelined.
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Hopefully, Harris can return to the lineup during this stretch and give the team a boost offensively. They could have certainly used it against the Knicks and will need it for as long as Joel Embiid is sidelined.
