Getty Al Horford #42 of the Philadelphia 76ers and Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics race for a loose ball.
In his first game with the Philadelphia 76ers, Al Horford got some sweet success against his former team, besting the Boston Celtics 107-93.
Horford went for 16 points in 31 minutes against his former squad and he’s happy to be
“When I saw the schedule I was like ‘first game of the season’ but it was good,” he said after the game. “Just relieved from that part and also very happy, very happy we got the win tonight.”
As Sixers coach Brett Brown has found out in a hurry, all of what Horford does doesn’t show up in the box score. He was very impressed with the veteran after his first game in a Sixers uniform.
He also closed out the game with a thunderous dunk, just as icing on the cake.
“He was just solid all over the place,” Brown said. “He’s just so intellectually ready to play … I thought that Al was just solid throughout and certainly solid during timeouts with his comments amongst his teammates.”
AL HORFORD YAMS TO END THE GAME AND A BENCH CUT TO SAD TATUM AND SMART HAHAHAHAH
Al Horford Takes Shot at Marcus Smart for Flopping
In his postgame comments, Horford took a good-natured shot at his former teammate Marcus Smart for his acting abilities on the court.
“Marcus does such a good job of flopping, though, like, you know, selling it. Just making sure,” Horford joked. “He does that. That’s what the does. When I was on his side I loved it, I thought it was great. But now, he got me. He got me pretty good.”
Al Horford: “Marcus (Smart) does such a good job of flopping…He got me tonight.”
Horford has been nothing but civil when taking about his time with the Celtics. But after they were eliminated from the playoffs last season, he expressed his disappointment with his tenure in Boston.
“We all expected more from each other and from this group,” Horford said. “I do believe that we gave all we had. Things just didn’t go our way. We had an up-and-down season all year and, in the playoffs, we got off to a good start, and then for whatever reason we weren’t able to recover. Obviously that’s disappointing and it hurts because we were trying to do it for Boston, for our fans, and obviously we’re disappointed. We came up way short.”
Now he’ll look to accomplish what he couldn’t in Boston with the Sixers.
Joel Embiid Bloodied in Sixers Win
Sixers center Joel Embiid
The games that matter have started in the NBA, and if there was any question about the intensity, just ask Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid.
Embiid took an elbow to the face in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics when Jalen Brown went up for a shot, lacerating his lip and causing a bit of a mess.
It was part of a rough night overall, where Embiid was also called for a flagrant foul and 60 fouls were whistled in all.
Joel Embiid with some blood after taking that elbow to his face
Embiid missed only a brief amount of time before returning and it didn’t seem to effect his game one bit, as he was all over the floor trying to wrangle in loose balls.
After a slow start, Embiid finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. He did struggle with his shooting, finishing 5-of-14.
Embiid was not available for postgame interviews due to the swelling in his face, but Brown gave a great quote on his star earlier in the week.
“I think he’s gonna have a year that puts us in a position to win a championship,” Brown said. “I feel a tremendous responsibility to help him define his legacy. Legacies start with championships. I didn’t take an S off that word on purpose. It’s championships.”
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Al Horford Takes Hilarious Jab at Marcus Smart