Sixers Experiment With Al Horford Will Continue vs. Nets on Thursday

It's been over a week since the Philadelphia 76ers took the court as a whole. Now that the All-Star break is officially in the rearview, it's time for the Sixers to strap up and get ready to make a last-minute run to improve their spot in the Eastern Conference.

While the Sixers are pretty much a lock to make the playoffs this year, they are far from a finished product. As a team that's considered to be performing below expectations this season, the Sixers need to figure out a few things during this final stretch.

It appears one of their critical issues from this season revolved around the idea of having Joel Embiid, Al Horford, and Ben Simmons starting in the same lineup together. Considering  Horford was one of the Sixers' top acquisitions of the offseason, it seemed unlikely he would be willing to come off the bench.

While Horford doesn't seem thrilled about it, the veteran big man didn't put up a fight with Brett Brown when he found out he would come off the bench last Tuesday night. While Horford still played nearly 30 minutes during the final matchup before the break, his absence in certain lineups made a clear difference.

Heading into All-Star weekend, Brown was happy to see certain things working with the significant change, but the Sixers' head coach wasn't committed to having Horford continue to come off the bench at the time. On Wednesday, however, Horford made it clear that he's under the impression that's the plan moving forward.

"I believe so," was Horford's response on Wednesday after practice when he was asked if his role stays the same as it was last Tuesday. Like many established veterans, Horford seems to be having a bit of a tough time with the change, but the longtime veteran won't make a big stink out of it. "It's what the team needs," he said. "[So] that's what we're doing."

Brown later confirmed that to be true -- Horford will come off the bench once again on Thursday when the Sixers return to the court. Just because that's the case right now doesn't mean it's Brett Brown's end-all, be-all situation for Horford, though.

"At times it will depend on matchups," the Sixers' head coach said. "I don't think that the situation will be erratic. I think in a rare case where it's something that is clear. I'm not married to it as a be-all, end-all. I intend to pursue what you all saw against the Clippers more often than not." So there it is. For the time being, Horford will come off the bench starting on Thursday against the Nets.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twiter: @JGrasso_