Philadelphia 76ers: Turns out Marc Gasol is Al Horford 2.0

When Al Horford joined the Philadelphia 76ers, it felt like easy sailing for Joel Embiid and company. Apparently, no one told that to Marc Gasol.

When the Philadelphia 76ers signed Al Horford away from the Boston Celtics, it was supposed to clear the way for Joel Embiid to dominate the Eastern Conference.

No longer burdened with having to brawl with the five-time All-Star in the paint four times a season – not to mention the playoffs – it looked like Embiid and company would be able to comfortably stroll through the regular season in route to a well-earned top-seed.

Apparently, no one told that to the Toronto Raptors.

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That’s right, while Nick Nurse‘s squad may no longer count Kawhi Leonard as a member, and have regressed from championship favorites to just another playoff-bound 50-win squad, that doesn’t mean the team can’t still get up for a ‘rivalry matchup’.

Now if we’re being honest, I never quite counted the Raptors as a rival, as that infamous Leonard shot felt more like some cosmic curse than a rival-making beatdown, but with ‘The Claw’ now back in his native Southern California, the brunt of Toronto – Drake included – have turned their anger onto Brett Brown and the 76ers.

And unfortunately, Jurassic Park still has a few members of their championship roster who can give Philly fits.

While Elton Brand was looking to bolster his frontcourt with a power forward 3 point shooter at the 2019 trade deadline – surrendering a King’s ransom for Tobias Harris, Mike Scott, and Boban Marjanovic – Masai Ujiri flipped C.J. Miles, Jonas Valančiūnas, Delon Wright, and a 2024 second-round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marc Gasol.

Why? Because Gasol could neutralize Embiid.

A three-time All Star and one-time Defensive Player of the Year (in 2012-13), Gasol finally was afforded an opportunity to compete for a championship after three straight seasons of mediocrity and ran with it. Paired up with another starting-caliber center in Serge Ibaka, Gasol played spoiler to Embiid’s one-man paint party, limiting ‘The Process’ to 17.57 points per game a night versus 27.5 over the regular season.

And in the duo’s first meeting since that fateful series, Gasol made his money and then some.

Facing off against Embiid for the majority of the evening, Gasol held Embiid to zero points on 11 attempts from the field. And to make matters worse, Embiid also missed all three of his attempts from the charity stripe for the rare zero-point performance that nary a Sixers fan ever saw coming from their star player.

But this isn’t about Embiid.

Don’t get me wrong, it wouldn’t be hard to take a cheap shot at Embiid for his performance, but it’s not like he didn’t try. While his shot wasn’t falling, the big fella kept setting screens and hauling in rebounds to keep his team in the game.

The more concerning development is just how well Gasol shut JoJo down.

Next. City of Toronto continues to haunt Joel Embiid. dark

Depending on how the season regular season plays out, it’s very possible the Philadelphia 76ers could find themselves facing off against the Toronto Raptors in the postseason. If that happens, it will be incredibly interesting to see how Brett Brown approaches deploying Joel Embiid after his first scoreless game as a professional athlete. And if not, well, Gasol could find himself on another contender, maybe even the Los Angeles Clippers, and still fill the role of Embiid buster. Yikes.