Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown made an adjustment in Game 2 by starting rookie Matisse Thybulle over veteran Al Horford in an effort to try and stop Celtics star, Jayson Tatum.
It didn’t work and Tatum beat up on the Sixers all night. For Game 3 with their backs against the wall, Brown went back to Horford over Thybulle in an effort to try and provide a spark.
It did not work as they fell short 102-94 and are now facing elimination. Horford had six points and 10 rebounds on 1-for-5 shooting in 38 minutes while Thybulle played 8:31 and he went scoreless.
“Just the importance of this game,” Brown explained. “The magnitude of this game. A little bit of former team, but mostly just experience. He’s been in the playoffs 12 years. He’s Al Horford. There’s a physicality that I knew he would bring to the table and I just trusted his resume. I trusted the fact that he was going to come in with an adult mind and a physical presence.”
Horford is a guy who has seen a lot at the NBA level so it makes a lot of sense why he would start such an important playoff game. Especially when considering that the one advantage the Sixers have in this series is their size and their physicality. Unfortunately, it just did not work out.
“It didn’t take a lot of thought truly after you’ve watched the series,” said Brown. “For me, it was kind of inevitable. You get to this situation, Game 3. If we’re going down, I’m going down with him and I thought that defensively, he was very good.”
The Sixers will now have to lean on Horford’s wisdom and experience a bit more in Game 4 on Sunday as they get set to try and keep the series alive with a win. [lawrence-related id=37062,37058,37055]