Following their latest loss at home in their first game back after the All-Star break, the Philadelphia 76ers are now just less than a game above the teams currently in the play-in picture. But the most telling part about this is the fact that they are now on a three-game losing streak, highlighted by the absence of Joel Embiid.
In their post-game presser after dropping another home game to the middling Hawks, VJ Edgecombe was asked about the team’s struggles as of late. The rookie doubled down on the absence of Embiid as the main reason, and as one fan pointed out, he repeatedly mentioned the lack of Embiid as the primary cause of their recent skid.
Now, that is precisely where the problem begins. The 76ers keep failing to recognize that they should not be needing Embiid just to win over struggling opponents on their own home floor. Yet that has been the case for years. Time and time again, this team has proven that they are completely incapable of winning ball games for the most part without the superstar big man.
The 76ers still do not have an answer for Joel Embiid’s absence
Sure, not having Paul George alongside Embiid does not help, but this team is still plenty talented across the board. Tyrese Maxey could even crack First Team All-NBA this season. Edgecombe himself is a shoo-in to make the First Team All-Rookie. The 76ers are also loaded with quality role players. Yet despite all these, they just can’t seem to turn in at least a competent showing without Embiid.
This is not going to be the only time where their best player (yes, Embiid is still their best player on this team) will miss games consecutively. The least they can do is to start getting used to it and act accordingly. Sure, as Edgecombe pointed out, defenses now tend to double down on Maxey, but that is not rocket science at the very least.
At this point, it would not even matter what the front office belabors itself with. As long as the team has very little idea on how to function competitively without Embiid, their ceiling as a collective in the regular season (which obviously has a huge effect on their positioning for the playoffs) will be limited.
The real issue here is that the 76ers keep relying so much on Embiid when that should no longer be the case. Sure, he might have had a resurgence, but that is no reason to rest on their laurels and hope that he continues being a messianic figure to prevent them from sinking.