The Philadelphia 76ers are designed to weather Embiid’s suspension

While losing Joel Embiid for two games is a bummer, the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster is perfectly constructed to weather the big man’s suspension.

It’s official: Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will be suspended two games for fighting (both on and off the court) with Karl-Anthony Towns (according to Shams Charania of The Athletic)

While this revelation shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as things got rather ugly between the two big men in their double-ejection South Philly street fight (more on that here), it does put the Sixers in a rather unfortunate spot for the first two games of a four-game West Coast road trip.

Fortunately, this is precisely why Elton Brand and company made it a point to sign Al Horford to a monster four-year, $109 million deal over the summer.

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Despite lacking Embiid’s generational talent, youthful vigor, and ability to drop the hammer in the paint like a UFC fighter, Horford has been better than advertised over his first week in a Sixers uniform and should keep things competitive against the Portland Trail Blazers and (weirdly white-hot) Phoenix Suns respectfully.

How do we know for sure? Easy, he’s done it as recently as last Saturday.

In the 76ers first game of the season without Embiid – their second overall game for anyone in some sort uber-specific of betting pool – Horford reverted back to his Boston/Atlanta position of center and turned in his most dominant performance as a Sixer – putting up 23 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes of action.

While not the same situation, Horford also performed admirably in relief of Embiid against the Timberwolves, kicking inside to finish out the game as the team’s center. Logging a season-high 34 minutes, Horford recorded his first double-double of the season en route to a 22-point victory over the lowly Wolves.

So clearly, subbing out Embiid for Matisse Thybulle keeps the Sixers’ starting five potent, but what about the club’s second unit you may ask? Will they be able to remain vital against the DeAndre Ayton-less Suns and the Hassan Whiteside-having Trail Blazers a man down?

Totally, that’s why both Kyle O’Quinn and Section 215 favorite Norvel Pelle earned contracts coming out of camp.

Despite combining for 29 minutes on the season – 29 for O’Quinn and zero for Pelle – the duo played great when their numbers were called over the preseason and should seamlessly slot into Brett Brown‘s lineup-heavy rotation. With a few days of notice, Brown could give a few new looks a try in the pursuit of finding a creative way to get points when Embiid is out of the game.

Who knows, this suspension may actually be good for Embiid too, as he has already missed a game with an ankle injury and could use the extra rest to get his body right before a mid-week bout against the defensively dominant Utah Jazz?

Will the Philadelphia 76ers be able to weather Joel Embiid’s absence and remain the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference? Only time will tell, but thanks to some masterful planning by Elton Brand, they have a better chance than most teams losing their best player.