As the Philadelphia 76ers get set to take on the Orlando Magic in their third game of the season, they will be looking to walk away with a victory in their first game without their superstar center, Joel Embiid. 

Thankfully, Embiid is out due to load management, so there’s no need to worry about his health. That said, this will be a difficult game for the Sixers, as they are still without Paul George and Jared McCain, and their current starting power forward, Dominick Barlow, was also added to the list of inactives. 

This will be a big “prove it” game for Philadelphia, as though they’ve been able to secure two straight wins with Embiid on a minutes restriction, they haven’t had to play without him yet. Even so, Embiid currently has a +/- of -18 this season, meaning that the team has actually been statistically better without him.

After their second game, he was asked about this statistic, to which he responded, saying, “Finally… It’s been 12 years... Keep it going."

Clearly, Embiid is pleased with the effort that the team has been giving with him off the floor, but that will be put to a true test against the Magic. Hopefully, they will be able to build off the success they had in the first two games, particularly in the backcourt, as they have made a case to have the best backcourt in the league. 

With Embiid out, backup center Adem Bona will need to step up, but the biggest priority will be getting their guards rolling as they have in both games this season. Star rookie VJ Edgecombe will need to put together a similar performance to his 34-point debut as he helped Philadelphia walk away from Boston victorious despite a four-point performance from Embiid. 

Maxey also scored 40 points, which shouldn’t be expected, but even if he doesn’t score 40 points, Quentin Grimes should be able to pick up some slack. Against the Celtics, Grimes scored just 10 points, while Maxey and Edgecombe got the shine. That said, it was Grimes who saved the day for the Sixers against the Hornets, hitting a game-winning three-pointer to go along with 24 points off the bench. 

Now expected to get the start, he’ll have even more opportunities to produce at a high level. It will take a full effort from all of their remaining stars to be able to prove that they have indeed evolved into a new team that isn’t reliant on Embiid. If they can do so, the outlook on the season will become much brighter.