The Philadelphia 76ers were without their two biggest stars on Tuesday night when they took on the formidable Lakers out in Los Angeles.
That meant Al Horford could step up and take the full brunt of Sixers fans' ire.
Horford has been a pretty consistent punching bag all season in Philly, failing to live up to the lofty expectations Elton Brand and his big free-agent contract put on him this past summer.
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There was a particular stretch to end the first half on Tuesday night that was simply brutal to watch (our video editors clipped a video of it for you to see above):
-Horford got torched by Anthony Davis on a backdoor alley-oop
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-Horford missed shot led to a Davis layup on the other end
-No help from Horford when Davis blew by Neto
-Horford had the ball taken right out of his hands by Avery Bradley.
That last one had Philly fans everywhere throwing up their hands in disgust. How does a guy as big as Horford allow that to happen?
There may also have been another Davis fastbreak dunk in there somewhere. Was hard to keep track.
It's been a long season for Big Al and the Sixers. In Horford's defense, our reporter Paul Hudrick wrote that Horford was battling some knee issues:
Al Horford was mostly solid early in this one, playing Davis tough, but several of the issues that have plagued him arose again as the game went on.
He struggled to shoot from the outside (2 of 8 from the floor), couldn’t finish at the rim and just looked a step slow. At a time when the Sixers have really needed Horford to be the guy they paid for, he has not done so. It’s fair to note that Horford could be seen on the broadcast getting ice and treatment on his left knee on the bench. He’s missed time this season because of soreness in that knee and left hamstring tightness.
More on the 120-107 loss here.