Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid and Al Horford shouldn’t play together

It’s time for the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers to realize that his two elite big men can’t co-exist on the floor on a regular basis.

It has been clear that the Philadelphia 76ers don’t function well when Al Horford is in the starting five. As such, head coach Brett Brown has taken a big step in moving Horford too the bench, but there are still times when Brown plays Horford with starting center Joel Embiid. Those scenarios need to stop happening on a regular basis.

This season, Horford and Embiid have an Offensive Rating of 98.7 and a Defensive Rating of 100.9. Defensively, the duo is producing at an elite level, but the Sixers offense is so bad when they are together that it cancels out their impressive defense.

What’s even more surprising is that for the last two games since Horford has been relegated to the bench, the two have struggled to play together even more. In 15 minutes of playing time in the past two games, they have had an Offensive Rating of 96.8 and a defensive rating of 125.8. That’s a Net Rating of negative-29.0.

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Does this mean that Brown should completely abandon playing the two together? No, there are at least two teams where this pairing will be necessary for the Sixers to have a good chance of winning. Both the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers have starting lineups that will favor starting Horford and Embiid together.

With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, the Bucks usually have a size advantage against most teams. If teams guard Antetokounmpo with a center, then the 7-foot Lopez has the size and skills to punish most power forwards in the post. If teams have their center on Lopez, then Antetokounmpo has the size advantage at 6-foot-11. The duo of Embiid and Horford nullify that advantage for the Bucks.

The Lakers have Anthony Davis at power forward and either JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and possible DeMarcus Cousins (when completely healthy) in their frontcourt. Davis’ size and skills make it impossible for power forwards (along with a decent amount of centers) to guard him effectively. Having a center like Embiid or Horford is a must to guard him and if they start together against the Lakers, then Los Angeles’s size won’t be to their advantage anymore.

Only two teams really providing ideal matchups to where playing Embiid and Horford at the same time makes sense. Brown needs to realize this and not play the two big men together on a regular basis.

That doesn’t mean that Embiid needs to play 30-plus minutes a night and Horford gets less than 20-minutes a night? No, keeping both big men healthy for the postseason is important so what Brown should do is limit Embiid’s minutes to just around 26-28 minutes a game and Horford to around 20-22 minutes a game. This strategy keeps Embiid fresh for the playoffs and allows Horford to get meaningful playing time.

Is this a perfect solution? No, but it’s the best Brown can do considering that the Philadelphia 76ers spent a whole lot of money to sign Horford this summer.