Playing through pain, Horford lends a big hand
NEW YORK » For a day and a half, through whatever therapy was necessary on his injured hand, Al Horford had his doubts that he would play Monday against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Sixers were thankful that he did.
Without both Joel Embiid and Norvel Pelle, Horford played through pain in his left hand, providing 26 minutes, 19 points and a critical 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as the Sixers ran a winning streak to four, 117-111.
“The hand felt good,” said Horford, who was in pain after a win Saturday over the Knicks. “I treated it all day yesterday and I wanted to play. But I wanted to go through my normal pregame routines. In warmups, I felt good to go.”
While thankful for Horford’s thumbs up, Brett Brown was careful to spread the five-spot minutes around, assigning Ben
Simmons, Kyle O’Quinn and Jonah Bolden to play some in the middle. That was enough to help the Sixers rally from a halftime deficit and boost their road record to 9-14. So was Horford’s 3-pointer from the top of the key that opened a 108-104 lead with 1:22 to play.
Horford admitted that the usual NBA contact sent some ingame pain through his hand.
“But I could deal with that,” he said. “I’m fine.”
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Simmons’ recent late-game scoring lulls were called into question during the Sixers’ two-game New York swing.
His answer Monday: Production at the one, four and five spots, 34 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, 12-for-14 shooting, five steals. And six points in the fourth quarter.
“He was huge,” Tobias Harris said. “He dominated from the beginning of the game, getting out in transition and making plays all night.”
After the game, Simmons was informed by Brett Brown that he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
“That’s a blessing,” Simmons said. “But I’ve got a lot more work to do. It’s great to have individual accolades. But I want team success.”
That, the Sixers are achieving, using the four-game winning streak to improve to 29-16.
“We played off Ben Simmons,” Brown said. “He was our beacon on defense tonight.”
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The Sixers played without Pelle, who technically was re-assigned to the GLeague.
The center is permitted one more game under the fine-print of his two-way contract, and the Sixers apparently were comfortable enough with their center depth not to use him against the Nets. The Sixers are expected to rework Pelle’s contract, allowing him to continue to be a factor into the postseason.
“He’s got two pretty good skills,” Brown said. “He can protect the rim. And he’s a pretty good roller. His physicality at the rim, his ability to go up and not get pushed around like a ragdoll and not get pushed around by NBA men surprised me a little bit. But being a shot blocker, or being instinctive going after balls, that did not.”
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While continuing to be uncomfortable discussing injured players or their recovery schedules, Brown was pestered Monday for an Embiid update.
“Being not rude, I will be brief,” he said. “It’s going well. But there really is no update on that.”
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The Nets played without Kyrie Irving, who had a hamstring injury … not that it scuttled the Sixers’ defensive plans.
“They really don’t change from a schematic system standpoint,” Brown said. “They’ll have a lot of pick-and-rolls, rolling bigs, and that’s that. If you give Spencer Dinwiddie 36 minutes, you still have a handful.
“But Kyrie is Kyrie. He’s an incredible scorer. He can conquer a quarter all by himself. But nothing changes for me. For them, having an All-Star on the bench, I wouldn’t be truthful if I didn’t say that might hurt them.”
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The intriguing story of Furkan Korkmaz continued Monday. The forward scored just 10 points, but his 26-footer with 24 seconds left made it 113-108, ending the suspense.
“He’s assumed an incredibly unlikely role to become one of our go-to guys,” Brown said. “He’s just been great. We all see him making shots, but what I see is an improved defender. And go study him in a pick and roll. He’s more than capable.”