Nick Nurse Speaks on 76ers' Need to Adapt Without Embiid

Joel Embiid has been on fire for the Philadelphia 76ers this season, averaging a league-high 35 points on 54-percent shooting, along with 12 rebounds.

To say that he is more than valuable to the success of the Sixers would be an understatement, which is made only more obvious when looking at the team's record in games without him; a lackluster 1-4.

Recently, the absence of the reigning MVP has become a reality for Nick Nurse, as Embiid has been sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered in a match against the Toronto Raptors earlier on in December.

Nurse recently spoke on the matter, expressing that his team needs to be able to adapt to another play style without the Cameroonian superstar.

"We certainly need to find another style to play, because it's so different when he's there..."

For the five games that Embiid has been out, Nurse has opted for a combination of Paul Reed and Mo Bamba, with the 24-year-old usually being the named in the starting lineup.

The only other alternative that Nurse has used is to inject Nicolas Batum and Marcus Morris Sr. into the lineup, similarly to how Doc Rivers would use P.J. Tucker as a flex center last season.

Regardless of how the team lines up, they haven't had much success as their scoring takes a hit, with Philadelphia putting up an average of 111 points when Embiid is out, as compared to the 121 they score when he is in.

The Sixers' head coach broke down the run of games without Embiid, highlighting that some of them have been rather close, noting the win against Orlando on Wednesday night as a highlight.

"The Boston game went down to the wire, this one was a good win, even we were down four against with two free throws, and missed them both in Miami with 2:50 to go, we're almost in a one possession game, the next thing you know it was nine."

This is only highlighted further when you take into consideration that three of the Sixers' five games without Embiid have been separated by single digits, with their 13 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in November being their heaviest defeat.

Given the close nature of these losses, as well as the statement 20-point victory against Orlando, the Sixers' head coach feels that they're starting to go in the right direction without their leading scorer.

"We're just playing better which is the main thing, we're playing well enough to give ourselves a chance to win, which is the main thing without Joel."