Al Horford Replaced by Furkan Korkmaz in 76ers' Starting Lineup vs. Clippers

The Philadelphia 76ers are shaking up their starting lineup for Tuesday night's highly anticipated matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers. Namely, star big man Al Horford is moving to the bench in favor of wing Furkan Korkmaz. 

The Sixers have been experimenting with a giant starting lineup this season after signing Horford over the summer. But that has caused spacing issues and called into question whether the team has put its two best players, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, in the best position to succeed. 

Embiid's frustrations came to something of a head Sunday. After hitting a dagger three late in a 118-111 win over the Bulls, Embiid shushed the crowd—which had intermittently booed him in recent home games—and appeared to say "Shut the f--k up" toward the crowd. 

Then he took to social media to further fan the flames. 

It isn't hard to see why Embiid might be frustrated this season. In starting Embiid, Horford and Simmons, the Sixers have three players most comfortable operating down low. Compounding those issues are the fact that Simmons basically refuses to shoot from the perimeter, and while both Embiid (33.3 percent) and Horford (32.6 percent) are willing three-point shooters, neither are particularly effective from range.

The result has been an offense that often bogs down and leaves Embiid on the perimeter to provide spacing, rather than down on the block where he's capable of dominating opposing big men. 

Thus, moving Horford to the bench and surrounding Embiid and Simmons with more shooting when they share the court makes sense from a basketball standpoint.

It also makes sense to promote Korkmaz, who has been red-hot in his past two games, putting 34 points on the Memphis Grizzlies and 31 points on the Bulls. More importantly, he shot 13-of-20 from three in those games, growing into the "bomber" head coach Brett Brown said he needed in October to replace JJ Redick, who signed with the New Orleans Pelicans over the summer. 

Korkmaz is the Sixers' best three-point shooter this season at 39.8 percent.

From every angle, the lineup shuffle is the logical move. But whether it provides the Sixers offense with the jolt it seems designed to create—and whether it marginalizes and frustrates Horford enough to create a new locker room issue in Philly—remains to be seen.