With Ben Simmons out, Joel Embiid had more space to work in his career-best scoring effort

An unintended consequence of Ben Simmons’ absence because of a back injury is that it opens up the court more for fellow 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid.

That doesn’t mean the Sixers are better off without Simmons. Quite the opposite. But the space given Embiid proved to be a major reason he scored a career-high 49 points Monday night during a 129-112 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks.

Embiid shot 17-for-24 from the field. According to the shot chart from NBA.com, most of his field-goal attempts came in the lane.

Without Simmons driving to the basket, the lane was open and Embiid took advantage. Aside from taking three three-pointers, including one that gave him his 49th point with 32.2 seconds left, Embiid basically stayed close to the basket.

Here is his breakdown of where he took his shots and how he fared.

This of course doesn’t count the shots near the basket on which he was fouled. One of his strengths is his ability to draw fouls and make foul shots. Against the Hawks, Embiid shot 14-for-15 from the foul line.

“I just came in with the mindset of just being aggressive, just trying to get fouled,” said Embiid, who by himself surpassed Atlanta’s fourth-quarter output of 20 points with his 22 points.

When Embiid gets close to the basket, he is so quick and strong that often the only way to stop him is to foul him. And when Embiid does get fouled, that plays into the Sixers’ hands. Even with missing 15 games this season, Embiid leads the Sixers with 366 free-throw attempts. He has made 300, an impressive 82%.

Only Mike Scott, who has hit 24 of 27 free throws (88.9%) has a better free-throw percentage on the team, and Embiid has attempted more free throws in the last three games than Scott has all season.

Embiid is also feeling better at the line since he is no longer wearing the splint that he had to wear after returning from a torn ligament in his ring finger. Since shedding the splint, Embiid has shot 38-for-41 from the line (92.6%).

As for playing without Simmons, coach Brett Brown said after Monday’s win that Embiid has to play more down low and draw fouls.

“With the news of Ben and him not being there, it’s clear to him that he’s gotta come out," Brown said. "He’s gotta play like he did [Monday] for the most part. His mentality is what most impressed me. We saw the same thing against Brooklyn.”

Brown was referring to the Sixers’ 112-104 overtime home win last Thursday over Brooklyn, the first game that Simmons missed with his back injury. In that game, Embiid had 39 points and 16 rebounds and hit 18 of 19 free throws.

Frequently during the season, Embiid has complained about spacing and how things have been clogged up down low. Embiid and Al Horford have struggled with spacing, but Simmons’ drives also cut into his space, bringing more defenders into the paint.

The Brooklyn and Atlanta games show that when Embiid has space, he is difficult to defend. A team such as Toronto, which has center Marc Gasol, does a great job guarding Embiid, regardless of how much space he has.

Not many teams can duplicate what Toronto does. Embiid is too explosive and strong and, given a little space, can light up a scoreboard.