The Philadelphia 76ers brought in Al Horford over the offseason -- and made a substantial financial commitment to him -- to play alongside center Joel Embiid, sure.  That was definitely a big part of it.  But he was also brought in as Embiid insurance -- to step into the starting center spot when the All-Star big man is out of the lineup. 

For each of the past two seasons, when Embiid would leave the court the Sixers' production -- on both ends -- would plummet.  This became especially evident in the 2019 playoffs, when Embiid posted the highest single plus/minus of the entire postseason.  The Sixers were significantly better than the eventual-champion Toronto Raptors when Embiid was on the court during the seven-game semifinal series between the two teams, but were significantly worse when he would head to the bench. 

Embiid needing significant rest is inevitable, as his injury history is well-documented: he missed his first two seasons in their entirety, and has never played more than 64 games in a season since.  As a result of this, the Sixers organization will always err on the side of caution when it comes to Embiid, which includes resting him sometimes when he could probably play in order to limit the potential for injury, as well as the overall wear-and-tear on his body.  Thus, the idea behind having Horford on the roster is that his presence would greatly limit the drop-off in production that the Sixers have experienced when Embiid is off of the court -- and we got a promising glimpse of that on Saturday night. 

Embiid was sidelined for Philadelphia's second game of the season against the Pistons in Detroit because of an ankle injury, and while the Sixers would always prefer to have their All-Star center out on the floor, things are a bit different this season.  Instead of having to start the likes of Amir Johnson (who is no longer in the NBA) or Jonah Bolden in Embiid's place, Brett Brown slid Horford over to the center spot, shifted Tobias Harris over to the power forward position, and then adjusted accordingly from there.  On Saturday, promising rookie Matisse Thybulle was Philadelphia's fifth starter along with Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson.  The Sixers won the game 117-111. 

In first start at the center spot for the Sixers, Horford recorded 23 points (on 50 percent shooting from the floor), nine rebounds, five assists and a steal, and he served as a legitimate paint protector as he held Pistons center Andre Drummond to a paltry 13 points and consistently provided well-timed help defense.  He isn't quite as good defensively as Embiid is but he is still one of the league's premier post defenders, and his presence indeed helps the Sixers to maintain a defensive identity, even with Embiid out.  Horford isn't some ancillary piece on the offensive end either.  He is a player you can legitimately run an offense through, and on Saturday he keyed Philadelphia's late game-clinching run almost singlehandedly with 15 fourth-quarter points. 

When it was time for Horford to take a blow, Brown was able to turn to veteran center Kyle O'Quinn, who isn't amazing but is certainly an improvement over what the team had to work with last season.  Plus, in a pinch, Mike Scott -- who connected on five 3-pointers against the Pistons -- could step in and play some small-ball center. 

The fact that the Sixers were able to close out a game without Embiid (two straight actually, if you consider the fact that Embiid spent the majority of the stretch run of Philadelphia's season-opening win over the Celtics on the sideline) is an encouraging sign moving forward.  The Sixers want the top seed in the conference but also don't want to overburden Embiid in order to obtain it.  They want to deliver him to the postseason as fresh as possible, but also don't necessarily want to sacrifice playoff positioning in order to do so.  A victory like Saturday night's suggests that is possible.  While it was just a late-October game against a shorthanded Pistons team, the Sixers certainly appear to be better equipped to handle absences from Embiid this season.