There’s nothing for certain regarding the Philadelphia 76ers now that Joel Embiid is dealing with a torn meniscus. Sixers’ head coach Doc Rivers hasn’t even ruled out Embiid of Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks, per Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.
I’ve voiced my opinion that Embiid should go ahead and get surgery on the most recent episode of The Sixer Sense podcast, but it appears he’s going to try to play through it when he is allowed to. Until he does, the 76ers coaching staff will have to adjust their plans without their superstar big man in their rotations. There are at least three changes that the team has to make entering this second round series.
3 adjustments they’ll have to make without Embiid: More Dwight Howard minutes
Throughout his first season with the Philadelphia 76ers, the matra around Dwight Howard has been “less is more”. This essentially means that when Howard has played excessive minutes, it hasn’t produced great results. In games when Howard has played 20 or more minutes during the regular season, the Sixers are 11-9 which isn’t bad, but not title-contending which is the point of this season.
“During the postseason, Simmons and Howard were a minus-5.0 per 100 Possessions.”
However, with Embiid injured and who the 76ers are going to face in Hawks, the need for more Howard minutes has never been higher this season. Atlanta has one of the dominant defensive and rebounding centers in the NBA with Clint Capela, who is 6-foo-10 and 240 lbs.
During the postseason, Capela has 10.0 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks, while making 66.7 percent from the floor. 3.0 of those rebounds were offensive and he’s averaged that number against a solid big man tandem of Taj Gibson and Nerlens Noel. Howard is the only true center on the roster now, and Capela could take advantage of Ben Simmons and especially Mike Scott on the boards, so there’s a need for more Howard minutes against Capela.
That doesn’t mean that Howard should start. Philly has a record of 1-5 with Howard starting and it’s because he and Simmons can’t play together for long stretches. During the postseason, Simmons and Howard were a minus-5.0 per 100 possessions. However, if Simmons can’t play Capela off the floor as the starting center, then Howard will need to play more, even if that means he and Simmons share the floor.