The Philadelphia 76ers will welcome back the player they've been missing the most real soon. Superstar center Joel Embiid is close to being cleared to play, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps on Wednesday.

Embiid, who sat out Philly's last nine contests due to a bone bruise in his left knee, will still be out against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday but will likely be ready to go versus the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

This is definitely great news for a Sixers team looking to once again hold the solo lead at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. With the Cameroonian unavailable for long periods of time, the stacked Brooklyn Nets have caught up with the Sixers and now boast an identical 32-15 record.

But even without Embiid (and Ben Simmons for a short while), the Doc Rivers-mentored team has found a way to hold the fort and have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games and winners of their last two.

As good as the Sixers continue to be in the 2020-21 campaign, they're a totally different monster with JoJo down on the block. Prior to his injury, Embiid has been a frontrunner for the MVP award, notching brilliant averages of 29.9 points on 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 42.2 from past the arc, along with 11.5 rebounds 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 31 games.

His 76ers teammates have stepped up big time in his absence, as fellow All-Star Simmons made sure their defense did not miss a beat, while Tobias Harris has been electric on offense as the team's no.1 option.