Al Horford Liked Karl Anthony-Towns Dunking on Sixers' Joel Embiid
Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl Anthony-Towns entered Saturday night's game in South Philly with a chip on his shoulder. The last time Towns played at the Wells Fargo Center was in October of 2019, well before the pandemic.
At the time, the Sixers employed Oklahoma City Thunder big man Al Horford. While Horford was trying to find his fit in Philadelphia alongside fellow big man Joel Embiid, that late October night in 2019 wouldn't do the duo any favors as Embiid was forced to leave the game early due to ejection.
It was early on in the season, and many Sixers fans claim that very game against Minnesota last season helped a lot of them realize that perhaps, Horford didn't want to be a part of the Sixers since he didn't join the Embiid-Towns scuffle, which led to both star big men getting tossed early.
Whether that's true or not remains unclear, but later on, down the line, it did become apparent that Horford's fit in Philly wasn't right. Not only was Horford no longer in peak form, but the fit alongside Embiid in a lineup with a lack of shooters also caused a lot of spacing issues on the floor.
Therefore, the Sixers traded Horford to the Thunder in exchange for Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson. "I just think it just wasn't a good fit,” Horford admitted a few months ago. “We just weren't jelling. We weren't meshing. And obviously, we had a lot of big guys out there in particular out playing, and it just wasn't fitting.”
Horford's logic is certainly understandable, but Philly fans still believe that the former Boston Celtics big man still has a beef with the organization and its fan base to this day. And on Saturday night as the Sixers played the Minnesota Timberwolves, Horford liked a particular video, which certainly riled up 76ers fans.
During the first half on Saturday night, Karl Anthony-Towns started getting fired up. As he wanted to show out in front of the crowd that constantly booed him every time he touched the ball, Towns threw down a big dunk over Joel Embiid.
As expected, the highlight of the impressive dunk made its rounds on Twitter on Saturday night, and many Sixers fans noticed the fact that Al Horford was one of the thousands of spectators tapping on the heart of the tweet that contained the video of the dunk.
Horford didn't have to say anything to get Philly fans riled up on Saturday night. All he had to do was acknowledge that Embiid got dunked on and nothing else.
Many Sixers fans probably had the April 26 matchup circled on their calendars as that would've been Horford's first game back in Philly since leaving so they could give him the Towns treatment. However, they'll have to wait until next year as Horford is shut down for the rest of the season.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.