With center Joel Embiid recovering from a lateral meniscus injury, the Philadelphia 76ers have relied on point guard Tyrese Maxey as well as some more recently acquired players.
Embiid suffered his injury during a game against the Golden State Warriors when Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg with four minutes and four seconds remaining in the game.
The team announced later that week that Embiid would undergo a surgery on his left knee to address the injury to his lateral meniscus.
Since Embiid wasn’t expected to return for at least four weeks following his surgery, fans had to turn their hopes of a successful season to other players on the team.
In Embiid’s absence, Maxey has been the main player to step up.
Having the best season of his career yet, Maxey has hit career highs in points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, steals per game and blocks per game.
A few newer faces to the Sixers team have also helped to pull some extra weight despite being recent additions to the system.
In the buyout market the Sixers acquired point guard Kyle Lowry, who has been working well alongside Maxey as the floor general.
Point guard Cameron Payne, who was acquired at the trade deadline, has been a great spark for the Sixers off the bench.
And while shooting guard Buddy Hield, who was also acquired at the trade deadline, has been in and out of the starting lineup, he has especially stepped up for the Sixers off the bench.
Even the five-year Sixers power forward Tobias Harris, who was struggling without Embiid, has since found a groove with 29.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in games against the Charlotte Hornets and Dallas Mavericks, which were back to back wins for the Sixers.
All this being said, the Sixers still need to acquire a backup center to replace Embiid for now because Mo Bamba and Paul Reed have not been able to quite fill the role.
Along with this, Maxey was recently put in concussion protocol during a game against the Brooklyn Nets.
While his concussion is reported to be mild, no return date has been confirmed.
This has sparked worries amongst fans as Maxey has been a key player this season, especially with the injury to Embiid.