With a playoff race ahead, the Sixers are still figuring out how to play without Joel Embiid
They started the season strong without Embiid, but the 76ers have struggled of late when he's not on the floor. Like Thursday night against Atlanta.
On media day at the start of the season, Nick Nurse said the Sixers were building their game plan around not having Joel Embiid in the lineup. If they had him, great. If not, no big deal.
That plan worked in early stretches. The Sixers opened the season a perfectly respectable 10-7 in their first 17 games without Embiid on the floor, while going 7-7 in their first 14 games with the former MVP.
When the calendar turned to 2026, Embiid suddenly was available more than he had been in a long time, missing just three games in January. Embiid played at an All-Star level, and the Sixers went 10-7 for the month. But they dropped all three games Embiid missed.
Now, with Embiid sidelined with right shin soreness, the Sixers have lost three straight, the latest being a home loss Thursday to Atlanta.
“I don’t anticipate it being a long time,” Nurse said of how long before Embiid returns. “I’m pretty optimistic about it.”
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The Sixers are 1-7 in their last eight games without Embiid.
“He’s a walking 30 points,” VJ Edgecombe said. “We miss Joel; he’s a big presence. He requires so much gravity, so now all the attention is on Tyrese [Maxey], and we’ve got to make his job easier.”
With Embiid out of the lineup, defenses hyperfocus on Maxey, who regularly faces double teams and traps. Theoretically, that should open up space for other players, like Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Quentin Grimes.
Without Embiid, Edgecombe said, the burden is on the rest of the players to create more of their own offense, instead of relying on the pick-and-roll game with Embiid or on just finding Embiid in the paint.
“It’s easy, man,” Edgecombe said. “You can just hit Joel, and he’s going to score. No one can guard him.”
Those stylistic differences from game to game even are challenging for more experienced players like Maxey. Dealing with defensive coverages in games without Embiid has led to a decrease in Maxey’s overall efficiency.
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Since Jan. 1, Maxey is shooting 46.8% from the field. In the games without Embiid, he has shot 38.4%. Maxey’s total points scored don’t take too much of a hit — he’s averaged 26.5 points in 2026, and that number only drops to 24 in games without Embiid — but it takes a lot more effort to get him there.
“We’re playing multiple styles of basketball,” Tyrese Maxey said. “That’s why I said for myself a couple games ago, it’s weird. I’ve had a successful year, but I’ve played three different roles.”
A big part of that inefficiency, Nurse said, is that Maxey’s shots inside the three-point line are virtually always contested. Without Embiid, Maxey is the Sixers’ primary offensive engine, and he draws a huge amount of respect from opposing defenses.
The extensive time with Embiid back in January “probably” is forcing the team back into a learning curve as they adjust back to playing without him, Grimes said.
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But the biggest point of emphasis has been for Embiid’s teammates to just keep taking their own shots.
“Guys got to make plays,” Maxey said. “Just got to go out there and be aggressive. Don’t be nervous or scared to make a play and make a mistake. Be aggressive, man, go out there, and just play.”