PHILADELPHIA -- Joel Embiid is used to having his way most nights.
After all, big men with his level of athleticism, versatility, physical strength . . . that’s just what they do.
But as dominant as Embiid can be, Al Horford seems to make the big man work harder than he normally does when facing the Boston Celtics.
“Embiid’s a big guy. He’s tough,” said Boston’s Marcus Morris. “We’re just battling, we’re not double-teaming, we’re not doing anything. Al’s taking that head-on. He’s very important to us and down the line, he’s going to be big for us when we get to the playoffs too.”
Horford’s defense on Embiid was among the many factors that led to what has become an all-too-predictable outcome between these two with the Celtics once again emerging victorious over the Sixers, 112-109.
Boston (36-21) has won all three games this year, and will take the season series for the fifth straight season with a 17-2 record in that span.
☘️ CELTICS 112, 76ERS 109
That dominance does not include Boston knocking Philly out of the playoffs last year in just five games.
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On Tuesday, Embiid had a 23 points and 14 rebounds, but did so on 9-for-22 shooting which included 2-for-8 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Horford had a strong night as well with 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting to go with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Boston goes into facing the Sixers knowing that Embiid is giong to get his numbers, but Horford’s defense consistently makes life a lot tougher on Embiid than most defenders.
For one thing, Horford spends most of the game defending Embiid with little to no help, a rarity in this league.
“Al’s a smart defender so he’s able to use spacing and angles and has a nose for when to gap him and when to get up on him plus he’s just a tough defneder,” said Boston’s Gordon Hayward. “Embiid is a monster. For Al to play like that’s encouraging. We’ve seen him do it in the past.”
However, Embiid doesn’t believe Horford’s defense is anything special.
“He’s not doing anything, it’s just on me,” Embiid said. “I was sleepwalking for three quarters and that’s on me. Like I said, that’s on me. It has nothing to do with anybody.”
Oh. OK.
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