Philadelphia 76ers: Can Al Horford stem the tide vs. Celtics?

Last time the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics met in the postseason, Al Horford helped Boston win in five. Now the tables are turned.

Of course. Of course, after all that has happened this season, we are left with a Philadelphia 76ers-Boston Celtics matchup in the first round. The age-old rivalry will get a new chapter in 2020, this time with the Sixers in a more precarious position than ever.

The Sixers entered the 2019-20 season with astronomic expectations. Many proclaimed them as favorites to win the Eastern Conference — a tall-ball roster built to bludgeon even the most talented opponents into submission. The front office’s decision to ignore offense, however, proved problematic. The Sixers never quite figured it out.

Now locked into the No. 6 seed, the Sixers will challenge a much more cohesive Celtics team in the first round. The Sixers won the season series, but at this point, confidence around this team has eroded. The absence of Ben Simmons — who is expected to miss the entire postseason — only worsens Philadelphia’s grim outlook.

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And yet, some still expect Philadelphia to compete — or even win — this series. On paper, the Sixers have a size advantage (duh). The Celtics are smaller and quicker, but Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter are far from proper answers to Joel Embiid. The Sixers’ All-Star center happens to be playing his best basketball of the season in Orlando.

If Embiid can maintain his stamina across four to seven games, the Celtics will have a difficult time quieting him. Elsewhere, the Sixers have enough size to challenge the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are generally strong defenders. Tatum might make an All-Defense team.

A major key in this series, however, is Al Horford. The former Celtics big man — the one who essentially sealed Philadelphia’s fate in 2018 — will now battle his old teammates in new garb. Horford has struggled immensely in his first season with Philadelphia, but his play thus far in the bubble has been a source of optimism. Brett Brown has high expectations heading into the playoffs.

"“I mean he’s just so multi-purposed. When you lose somebody like Ben Simmons and you’re looking around at, where are you going to make stuff up as it relates especially to the defensive side of it, some of it you can ask him to do. He’s obviously a different athlete than Ben is, but his intellect and his lateral quickness and his toughness, those can overcompensate for a lot, and we have all seen firsthand the Celtics defensive success that he had on a few of our players. You look forward to flipping the uniform and bringing it more our way and he will be very important, especially as I said without Ben Simmons.” — Brett Brown (c/o SixersWire)"

I’m not going to mince words. Al Horford is no longer an apt “replacement” for Ben Simmons on defense. Maybe last season, but after what we’ve seen this season, it’s borderline irresponsible to categorize Horford as the kind of versatile defender who can cover for Simmons.

Nonetheless, Horford has supplanted Simmons as the starting power forward next to Embiid. If that lineup configuration holds, he will need to defend Jayson Tatum or Gordon Hayward. Yes, Horford can still move his feet, but those are both players who can cook Horford if he’s not at his absolute sharpest. It’s not a matchup to be optimistic about.

With that said, Horford does know the ins and outs of this Boston roster. He’s eminently smart — the kind of player you want in a leadership role on defense. He’s vocal, he’s active, and he does have a preternatural understanding of how and where to position his body. It’s why he proved so challenging for Embiid in years past. Horford knows how to read movements and stifle momentum towards the rim.

On offense, Horford will contribute to the Sixers’ size advantage. He will get plenty of work in high-low actions with Embiid. Philadelphia will do everything in its power to punish the Celtics’ lack of rim protection. Horford has also been seen a surge in shooting success in the bubble. Hopefully his recent 3-point accuracy bleeds into the postseason.

If there was ever a matchup — a competitive environment — to bring out the Horford of old, this is it. The Sixers will need him to contribute across the board in order to beat a very good Celtics team. A Celtics team he just left last summer.

Boston will probably win this series. They’ve been a categorically better team all season, and Simmons’ absence will irrevocably harm Philadelphia’s defense. I’m not sure the offense works in any context, even if the Celtics have struggled to combat Philadelphia’s size this season.

But this series could very well come down to Horford. He’s the swing piece. The jailbreak talent — the player who, if he’s at his best, can stem the tide in Philadelphia’s favor. After all the heat he has taken this season, it’s impossible to deny the satisfaction a strong Horford performance and a series victory would provide to many.