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Al Horford Is The 76ers 2020 Playoff X-Factor

Alex Chick III / NBA / July 17, 2020

That’s right, one of the 76ers supposedly best players is the 76ers X Factor. As sad as that is. Al Horford was supposed to set the 76ers to the Finals, and it seems he has made the 76ers worse. The Al Horford experiment has been a disaster so far. Despite that, the 76ers are still 6th in the Eastern Conference. But if they are going to have any shot at actually winning the Finals, or even just getting out of the first round, Horford needs to be his absolute best for the 76ers.

Al Horford Stats

This year, there hasn’t been a notable difference in his stats compared to previous years. He is averaging 12 PPG on 44.2% shooting, 4.1 APG, and 6.9 RPG. The only difference worth noting is that he averaged 1.5 PPG more and had a 9% better FG% last year. His stats aren’t what the issue is here though, it’s his fit on the 76ers. A lot of the blame should go on Brett Brown for basically forcing to play Al Horford and Joel Embiid next to each other. Even though a 4th grader playing 2k would know that is a bad idea. Al Horford has been worthless when those two are on the court together.

Hopefully, with this COVID-19 hiatus, Brett Brown has had time to realize that it won’t work. Of course, this means that Al Horford would come off the bench for Joel Embiid. That will be good because I don’t think Horford is a bad player, I just think he could do better. Horford without Embiid on the floor becomes the primary big man for the second squad or any on the floor. He just needs to be able to sustain solid production during Embiid’s rest time.

Al Horford Should Be A Team Player And Sit Out NBA Restart

If he can do that, the 76ers still have a solid shot at making the Finals. But that is a lot of ifs to worry about. You have to hope Brett Brown doesn’t continue to be an idiot, rough start already. Then, you have to hope Al Horford can swallow his pride and be of help on the second squad or even just a rotational player. Third, you just have to hope he plays well at all. But, you’re saying there’s a chance?

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