Predicting 76ers' Starting Lineup on Sunday With Joel Embiid Out

Embiid will miss his first game of the season on the back end of a back-to-back for Philadelphia.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will not play on Sunday night against the Detroit Pistons. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For the second consecutive night, the Philadelphia 76ers will be without a key contributor when they host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.

LeBron James missed Philadelphia's 127-116 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night due to lower back and sciatica management. Joel Embiid will take his place on the Sixers' sideline on Sunday. Embiid has been officially ruled out of the game due to right plantar fasciitis management.

Embiid's absence shouldn't come as a major surprise, as the big man isn't expected to play both legs of back-to-backs this season given his extensive injury history, even though Embiid expressed a desire to play against the Pistons. With the big fella sidelined, the Sixers will have to replace him in the starting lineup, and they don't have many options.

Prediction: Adem Bona gets starting nod in Joel Embiid's absence

Most of Philadelphia's frontcourt depth is dealing with injury issues. Ariel Hukporti is out for the entire season with a torn Achilles. Dominick Barlow has been sidelined due to a back injury, and Jabari Walker has also been ruled out against Detroit after suffering an apparent knee injury against the Bucks on Saturday night.

That leaves Adem Bona as the only logical replacement for Embiid in the first five, unless the Sixers want to start extremely small and use James or Dean Wade as a small-ball five. While the Sixers are likely to lean heavily into small-ball against Detroit, it seems unlikely they'll start the game in such a manner. So, that brings us back to Bona.

My guess is the Sixers will start Bona alongside James, Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe, and Tyrese Maxey in the first five, and then utilize an undersized unit when Bona is on the bench. This season, Bona has averaged just 11 minutes per performance, so it remains to be seen how many minutes he'll clock against Detroit, though we should expect him to surpass his season average.

An increased on-court opportunity could help Bona get things going after an underwhelming start to the season. In 33 minutes of action in the current campaign, Bona has mustered just two total points and six rebounds, and the Sixers have been outscored by 15 points when he's on the floor.

Early-season statistics can be misleading, but the Sixers will need Bona to be better, as he is expected to play a prominent role given their lack of frontcourt depth. Hopefully, he'll step it up against Detroit.

Get 76ers On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.