With the Philadelphia 76ers’ star point guard out, is it possible for their star center to carry the team for an extended period of time?
The last thing that the Philadelphia 76ers needed was a potentially long-term injury to Ben Simmons. The franchise is a half-game back out of the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference which means there’s a real possibility of home-court advantage for a Sixers team that has been nearly unbeatable in Philadelphia. The question is now that Simmons is out, can Philly’s other star carry the team to a strong finish?
There’s no question Joel Embiid is a superstar in this league and a top-10 player. The question surrounding him, especially this season has been, can he do it consistently. It’s not a question of talent, but motor with the big man. He’s never been in elite shape and isn’t always aggressive in the post, which is his strength.
Despite it being a down year by his standards, Embiid’s still averaging 23.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.4 blocks. In the last three games, Embiid scored 39 points against the Brooklyn Nets, 17 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, and 49 points against the Atlanta Hawks. Simmons only played five minutes in the Bucks game and completely missed the other two outings.
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Fans shouldn’t expect almost 40-point games from Embiid in every contest until Simmons gets back. However, getting at around 30 points isn’t impossible for the big man. He’s just one year removed from averaging 27.5 points per game. Another thing to remember is that without Simmons, Embiid will have a lot more room to work inside the paint, which is to his advantage.
While Embiid will be the focal point moving forward he won’t be completely alone either, Tobias Harris is a legit scoring option on this Sixers team. This season he’s averaging 19.0 points on 36.8 percent shooting from downtown. In the past three games, he’s averaged 19.3 points and 23.5 points in the two games Simmons didn’t record any minutes in.
Embiid has the skills to carry this team offensively, and he’s also not the only legit scoring threat. Another thing to consider is the rest of the Sixers schedule is pretty easy. Out of the 24 games they have left this season, only eight of those games come against teams currently in a playoff spot.
Embiid should be able to carry the Philadelphia 76ers in the absence of Simmons, however long that will be. He has the skills, the space in the paint to be effective offensively, the ligament secondary scoring option to help him in Harris and the Sixers have an easy schedule to finish up the season.