Celtics
“I was just out there trying to fight for my life and trying to make an impact.”
The shots weren’t falling for Al Horford.
Not up to the high standards he set for himself, at least.
Despite sinking five of his seven attempts beyond the arc in Game 3 against the 76ers, the sharpshooting big man struggled to carry that momentum through the rest of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Over the following next four games, Horford went just 4-for-21 from 3-point range. It was an extended slump for a self-appointed “elite shooter”, one who backed up such a claim by converting on 44.6 percent of his attempts from long distance during the regular season.
Of course, the Celtics don’t necessarily need Horford to be the central conduit for their offensive gameplan.
Horford chipped in with six points in Boston’s series-clinching blowout in Game 7 against Philly, with Jayson Tatum (51 points) and Jaylen Brown (25 points) leading the charge.
But down the other end of the court, Horford continued to serve as an unsung hero on a Celtics squad in need of some defensive mettle if they want to lift Banner 18 to the rafters.
Horford’s 3-point shooting and offensive contributions are simply the cherry on top of his expected role on a deep Celtics roster. The 36-year-old center’s bread and butter still revolves around his standing as one of the anchors of Boston’s defense.
Even though his shots weren’t falling against Philly for extended stretches, Horford played a key role in Boston’s surge back from a 3-2 series deficit. Most of that involved his efforts at neutralizing Joel Embiid down low throughout the seven-game series.
“You just try to make everything as difficult as I could,” Horford said postgame of slowing down Embiid. “He’s the MVP of the league for a reason, and how much pressure he can put on your defense and so many things that he can do.
“So I was just out there trying to fight for my life and trying to make an impact. And I understood that in this series, it wasn’t going to be so much my offense, it was more defensively that I had to take that challenge and defend him for us to have a chance.”
Joe Mazzulla and the rest of the Celtics’ roster deserve plenty of credit for augmenting their gameplan in order to slow down the reigning MVP. The Sixers’ big man struggled to get in a groove as the series carried on thanks to consistent double-team pressure and the return of Boston’s double-big starting lineup.
But in head-to-head matchups against Embiid, Horford kept the star big man in check.
As noted by Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, while Embiid converted on 30 of his 63 shots (47.6 FG%) when guarded by other Celtics, his only sank 31 of his 80 attempts (38.8 FG%) against Horford.
In Game 7, Horford limited Embiid to just 3-of-16 from the field as his primary defender, per Michael C. Wright of NBA.com.
“Al is one of our defensive anchors — him and [Marcus] Smart, for sure,” Mazzulla said postgame. “He plays with the type of physicality to where he knows he can guard one-on-one because of the team and the people he has around him.
“And so because of that, he was able to be a little bit freer and physical and whether it was Rob [Williams], whether it was Smart, whether it was Jaylen, Jayson, Derrick [White], Malcolm [Brogdon], Grant [Williams], whoever was in the game — because of their open mindedness and connectivity, he was allowed to just be more aggressive. And so you have to guard him as a team.”
The Celtics’ depth and offensive firepower can carry them very far this postseason, no question.
But a stingy defense was a hallmark of a Celtics squad that punched its ticket to the NBA Finals last June, and it’s a characteristic of many squads that have hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy over the years.
The Celtics will need Horford’s defensive fortitude moving forward, especially against a Heat team that does plenty of damage inside.
With Bam Adebayo capable of wreaking havoc in the paint and only 12 percent of Jimmy Butler’s points coming from 3-point range, Horford will once again be tasked with being the last line of defense for Boston in Round 3.
So far, Horford hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
“I think we are definitely finding our identity defensively. And we’ve got to continue to maintain it,” Jaylen Brown said Sunday. “Philly presents different challenges than we’ve had to face — having to guard the MVP in Joel Embiid. And now progressing against Miami, they propose different challenges as well.
“So we just have to be versatile. You’ve got to have intensity, you’ve got to be aggressive. And that’s got to be the tone-setter for the whole series. We can’t be looking around. Like that level of intensity has got to be the barometer. And then we’ll figure out the X’s and O’s behind it.”
Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
#Horfords #defensive #fortitude #key #Celtics #playoff #run