Boston Celtics: Can Al Horford Contain Joel Embiid a Second Time?
Al Horford and Joel Embiid will be clashing in what could be a great matchup
The Boston Celtics are gearing up for their second showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers, and that means Joel Embiid will get his chance to get some revenge after his could not perform against Al Horford last time.
The 76ers were the beginning of Boston’s remarkable winning streak, and now they have another opportunity to start one against them. Once again, the Horford Embiid matchup could be the most important of the game.
Horford is also looking to recover from one of his worst defensive performance of the season. Andre Drummond was able to dominate against the Celtics. Fortunately, Horford has been much more comfortable with the versatile bigs, rather than the traditional ones.
The problem with Embiid is that you feel as though when he gets going nobody can stop them. Horford is not on the same level of Embiid physically, but the Celtics have figured out how to slow down these great versatile bigs.
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Embiid is also just one part of the immense size the 76ers have. They are redefining the way positions are used in basketball, and that makes this Horford Embiid matchup even more important. If one of them gets dominated by the other, then that could spell trouble. If one of them forces the other to adjust, and adapt their size and that could be the difference in the game.
Both of them have incredible offensive arsenals, so they put tremendous strain on everyone. Fortunately, the Celtics have other versatile defenders that can help on Embiid, and that is often the difference for them as a team. That means Horford will have an opportunity to win this matchup, and it is hard to see the 76ers having a chance against the Celtics if Embiid loses this matchup.
Horford has been building a defensive player of the year campaign, and his ability to shut down these incredibly versatile bigs is one of the biggest reasons why. After that performance against Drummond, some people may be souring on the idea giving it to Horford, even if he is leading the best defense in the league.
All those Drummond struggles will be forgotten if Horford shuts down Embiid again, especially given how polarizing Embiid has been this year. Embiid has been getting in the head of a lot of people, but that should not happen against Horford, who has been calm and collective in any situation.
The 76ers and the Celtics are expecting to have a long rivalry with their young cores. The 76ers are still not as advanced as the Celtics, but they have the young talent to stand up with anyone in the league.
Next: Celtics Get First Calm of the Season
Hopefully, Horford will still be around in his prime when the 76ers do catch up, because Embiid and Horford could become one of the better clashes between bigs this league has seen in a long time.