Sixers Feel Bad for Joel Embiid, Know Defense Must Improve Without Him

MIAMI -- The Sixers are facing a new certainty the remainder of their season: no Joel Embiid.
 
The team has been playing without its leading scorer since Jan. 27. Knowing he definitely will not suit up again this season, though, is different than anticipating the possibility he could return somewhere down the road.
 
"He's my very good friend and I feel bad for him because he had a great season until now," Dario Saric said. "Obviously everybody knows he had these two years before he had injuries. Now again, maybe he's just unlucky. I hope he'll come back as soon as possible, work on his game and be ready for next season."
 
The Sixers officially ruled out Embiid's return Wednesday afternoon following an MRI on Monday. The bone bruise has improved "significantly," according to the team, but the meniscus tear revealed in an MRI following his initial Jan. 20 knee contusion was "more pronounced" in the most recent scan.
 
The Sixers had been monitoring the meniscus tear in the previous two scans. They had not seen any change in it until Monday's MRI. There is a thought that change may have occurred when Embiid practiced last Thursday.
 
Embiid's teammates were prepared for the chance he would be watching from the sidelines this season. The team has been managing his playing time with extra caution, restricting him to a max of 28 minutes per game and resting him in one of two back-to-back games.
 
"There wasn't something that really shocked me because we want him to be healthy," Nik Stauskas said. "It's unfortunate news, especially after his history with injuries. With the season he was having, you want him to be out there and really show people what he can do. But unfortunately, that's not going to be the case. We all feel for him."
 
The Sixers' ultimate goal is to have Embiid healthy for the long term as a centerpiece to build around for years to come. There is a possibility the team could opt for meniscus surgery once Embiid's bone bruise heals.
 
The Sixers got a 31-game glimpse into Embiid's potential, and Embiid himself also had a small sample of life in the NBA. He had waited the past two years for it as he recovered from foot injuries, and was playing so well he was in the mix for All-Star voting.
 
"Considering everything he's gone through his first couple years, to get a taste of it this year and now being shut down, I just felt bad for him," Gerald Henderson said. "I can see he was down about it. He'll bounce back and get healthy. He knows how to do it."
 
Just as they have been doing all season, the Sixers have to compete without Embiid through the next 22 games. The depth at the center position is thinner after the Sixers traded Nerlens Noel to the Mavericks at the deadline. The responsibilities of the five-spot fall on Jahlil Okafor and Richaun Holmes.
 
"[We have to] be able to focus on the guys that we do have," Okafor said. "I wish Joel the best in his recovery and hope everything heals properly. As a team, we still have a lot of things we need to work on."
 
Echoed Holmes, "I just feel bad for him. He's waited so long for this opportunity to get a chance to show everybody what he can do, and it gets cut short. We've got to rally together as a team and close out the season strong. We still have to find ways to win games, find ways to play defense, try to cover up the holes that JoJo did so well."
 
Embiid's absence has been magnified in matchups over the course of the season. Wednesday's game against the Heat, a 125-98 loss, was a prime example of the team's missing its man in the middle.
 
Even though that was Brett Brown's first game knowing for certain Embiid will not be on the court for the remainder of the season, he has been game planning without him for a while now.
 
"We've been doing this so long, it's [not] like we just sort of experienced not having Joel," Brown said. "I think the finality that you hear ... you think about how you're going to manage it. I feel like because of the erratic side of our team this year, especially at this position, that you just move on.
 
"You coach what you've got, you keep them together, keep moving them forward, keep their spirits up, keep it positive, you keep it real."
 
Now the Sixers have a clear picture of what their reality looks like for the remainder of the season.