The Philadelphia 76ers will be without their star center for the foreseeable future, as Joel Embiid will be sidelined following surgery to repair a torn radial collateral ligament in the ring finger of his left hand. Embiid is set to be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks, per the Sixers, but his stay on the sideline will likely last longer than that, as the Sixers always play it cautiously when it comes to their centerpiece. His long-term health will always take precedence over regular-season games. 

Unfortunately, being without Embiid is a familiar situation for the Sixers, as the two-time All-Star missed 88 games combined over the last three seasons with various ailments.  But, while the Sixers may be accustomed to going to battle without Embiid, it's certainly far from ideal, as they rely heavily on the big man on both ends of the floor. Plus, the team is still in the midst of developing chemistry after a pretty major shakeup over the offseason. Nonetheless, a lineup without Embiid is Philadelphia's reality for the time being. Luckily, the injury doesn't seem extremely serious, and Embiid should be back well before the regular season comes to a close, so the long-term ramifications of the injury should be minimal (outside of a potential slip in playoff positioning for the Sixers, but we'll get to that). But in the short term, here's what Embiid's absence means for the Sixers. 

The Ben Simmons show 

With Embiid sidelined, the Sixers will naturally lean more heavily on their other All-Star, Ben Simmons. When Embiid missed the final eight contests of the 2017-18 season, the Sixers were still able to win all of those games and close out on the season on a 16-game winning streak, thanks largely to Simmons' play. The Sixers are hoping for some similar success this time around. 

Philadelphia is obviously a different team when Simmons is the offensive focal point, as opposed to Embiid, as they play faster and with less emphasis on post play. Simmons is at his best when he's able to get out in transition and is surrounded by shooters, and that's exactly how the Sixers will look to play with Embiid out. Naturally, when Embiid is in there, Simmons has to scale back his attacking approach in order to facilitate post touches for the big man. Without a mandate to work the ball into the post, expect to see Simmons shot out of a cannon; playing downhill as much as possible, and in turn generating ample opportunities for Sixers shooters. A large portion of Embiid's 31 minutes per game will be dispersed among Philadelphia's reserve perimeter players, in an attempt to maximize floor-spacing around Simmons. This means that guys like Trey Burke, Furkan Korkmaz, James Ennis, and Matisse Thybulle will likely see their roles slightly expanded for the time being. 

Losing your top individual offensive option is never part of the plan, but there's reason for optimism for Philadelphia. In the 361 minutes that Simmons and Al Horford have played together without Embiid on the floor this season, the Sixers have posted an offensive rating of 118.86; better than that of the top-ranked Dallas Mavericks. This brings us to Horford.

Al Horford gets to play his natural position 

Al Horford is a versatile -- and selfless -- player, and as such he has accepted a role as the power forward next to Embiid. However, the center spot is his preferred position, and in today's NBA that's where he's most effective. Horford is at his best when he's operating either from the elbow or the low block, as he's s very comfortable with creating good looks for himself and others from these areas. The issue with that is Embiid is also most comfortable in these areas, especially on the low block, where he does a fair share of his damage. Thus, Horford spends a lot of time on the perimeter when he's sharing the floor with Embiid, where he's limited, and not especially effective. Horford is attempting a career-high 3.9 3-pointers per game on the season and shooting 34 percent from deep. When he's posted on the perimeter he can't take advantage of his size, footwork, or ability to pick apart defenses with precision passing. 

Late last month, Horford lamented the fact that he'd been unable to find his rhythm within the framework of Philadelphia's offense while admitting that he indeed felt limited on the offensive end. 

"I still haven't been able to find my rhythm with the team... I'm out [there] for the team and doing what I can to help us. But offensively, I'm very limited with the things that I can do," Horford said. "So I can't control that stuff... So all I have to do is make sure I'm there for the team, trying to do everything I can to help us win."  

With Embiid out, Horford will likely feel a lot less limited offensively, as he will get to spend much more time in positions where he is comfortable. Ideally for Philadelphia, Horford will use the expanded on-court opportunity to find that rhythm that he has been searching for, even if he will ultimately have to re-calibrate again when Embiid eventually returns to action. Horford's ability to step in for Embiid and provide the SIxers with another reliable, top-tier post presence was a major factor in the team's decision to sign him to a major deal over the offseason and now is his chance to show everyone that Philadelphia made a smart investment. 

More minutes (aka experience) for Norvel Pelle

One player that will directly benefit from Embiid's absence is Norvel Pelle, who has surpassed Kyle O'Quinn on the depth chart and emerged as Philadelphia's backup big man behind Embiid and Horford. Pelle is long, athletic, and bouncy; an ideal recipe for a big man in today's NBA. This combination of traits allows him to be an excellent rim protector, as Celtics forward Gordon Hayward learned the hard way on Thursday night: 

Pelle has also proven to be an effective screener in pick-and-roll situations: 

Pelle's main drawback at this point is inexperience, as he has less than 100 NBA minutes under his belt. However, Embiid's absence will afford Pelle increased opportunity in the form of in-game experience, which could be very beneficial for the Sixers in the long run. 

A potential drop in postseason positioning 

The race for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference is extremely tight, as the second-place Heat and sixth-seeded Pacers are separated by just 4.5 games. It was already going to be extremely difficult for the fifth-seeded Sixers to catch the top-seeded Bucks in the standings, and that will become even more difficult with Embiid out. Every game counts in the postseason race in the East, and with Embiid sidelined for several weeks, the Sixers may very well drop a game, or two, that they would have won had the All-Star big man been playing, which could ultimately cost them a spot in the standings. 

At this point though, the Sixers have demonstrated that they can compete with all the top teams in the East, and as such, seeding will clearly take a backseat to health. That means that the Sixers aren't going to rush Embiid back, and they also aren't going to overburden a 33-year old Horford in Embiid's absence. Sure, the Sixers want to play as many home playoff games as possible (they're 18-2 at home so far this season, compared to just 7-12 on the road), but health is by far the most important factor for the team come playoff time. They need to adopt the attitude that if they're a healthy unit in April they can beat anyone, anywhere.