When the Philadelphia 76ers brought in Al Horford in the summer of 2019, the idea was to have him help Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons bring a championship to the City of Brotherly Love. He was just going to be a key role player in helping the star duo get the job done.
However, plans change and now they need him more than ever.
In the middle of a unique situation inside a bubble in Disney World, the team has now lost Simmons to a big knee injury. That puts more pressure on Horford to give the Sixers what they need in terms of not only production, but also guidance and a physical presence that will be missing without Simmons. He is a guy who can be counted on after all of the accomplishments he has under his belt in a pretty successful career thus far.
“You can’t help but feel an emerging Al Horford,” said coach Brett Brown. “It’s clear he understands that we need him more than we ever have needed him. There’s a physical play that stands out the most.”
The Sixers needed Horford–as well as Embiid, of course–to make a big difference in Friday’s 108-101 win over the Orlando Magic. They needed the veteran to make a presence and that is exactly what he did, especially after a bad first half.
“The thing that I most definitely feel it on the sideline is there is a physical presence,” Brown added on Horford. “There is a smashmouth, physical presence that we needed tonight. I thought that we were losing the physical battle in the first half. You can reference we shot five free throws, you can reference we were 3-for-18 on long twos, it was no good. It was a ‘D+’.”
Without Simmons, the Sixers will need to come out and set the tone on a regular basis. That is where Horford comes in who will move back into the starting lineup in place of the young All-Star.
“We need to set the tone,” said Horford. “Coach has been talking about it all year and we need to make sure that we’re coming out and we’re setting the tone from the beginning.”
Along with the guidance and the physical play brought on Friday, Horford added a stellar stat line of 21 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes. All of that is an added bonus for this team and it’s what the Sixers will take moving forward.
“With Al, it’s not a statistic to me,” Brown finished with. “It’s more just that physical presence that he brings to this group.” [lawrence-related id=36462,36452,36430]