Horford hangs back at home
But star comfy with new team
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
MILWAUKEE — The Celtics had hoped to have Al
Horford back with them last night after he missed Friday’s win over Orlando with a groin strain, but he was removed from the boarding list for the flight here later that evening.
“That was a last-minute, late-(night) decision,” said
Brad Stevens before the Celts went overtime to get past the Bucks, 112-108. “Doc (team physician Brian McKeon) wanted him to get a scan (yesterday). The soreness is a little bit still there, but for the most part dissipated, and the scans look fine, so he’s day to day.”
Horford is expected to go through some type of workout today to gauge his progress and potential availability for tomorrow’s game against Detroit.
Though the Celts, playing against the struggling Magic, didn’t miss a step in the first game of his absence and got by the middling Bucks last night, certainly Horford didn’t want to interrupt his recent run. In the previous three games, he averaged 19.7 points, 4.6 points better than in his first 32. In addition, he had hit six of seven 3-pointers.
There is no question Horford is getting more comfortable with his surroundings, but he insists any early difficulties were not as a result of trying to do too much to live up to the large free agent contract he signed with the Celts over the summer (four years, $113 million).
“I think that’s a natural reaction,” Horford told the Herald recently, “but for me, honestly, from the very beginning, Danny Ainge and coach (Stevens) talked to me and they both stressed to me even before I committed here that they wanted me to come in and just do what I do, play my game, no additional expectations.
“And for me that was good, because I know what I can do. I know what I’m capable of. And I just wanted to come in and fit in and do the best that I could, so I think that from them, they just made my transition a lot easier. I’m sure there were expectations from other people, but I don’t really read anything or get caught up in things like that.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just to make sure the guys appreciate how hard I play and just making sure that I come in and fit in with the group. I think that’s my biggest thing, just to fit in.”
Kidd big Isaiah fan
As one who improved his game steadily after coming into the NBA, Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd can appreciate better than some how Isaiah Thomas has gone from the last pick in the 2011 draft to a two-time (and counting) Eastern Conference All-Star.
Kidd pointed out the growth of Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry, whom the Bucks faced the previous night and continued, “You look what Isaiah’s gone through, the process, maybe being discounted and never backing down. He’s a big part of the Celtics’ success, so it’s good to see guys working hard and not letting anybody take away their goal. Those two guys work extremely hard in the summer, and they’re very competitive and they want to win. That’s what makes them special.”
Whole new world
Watching Jaylen Brown come up with a big steal and 3-pointer in the fourth quarter last night (part of his nine-point, eight-rebound evening) or score a career-high 20 points and pull down eight rebounds Friday, it may have been easy to forget that he’s still just a kid who turned 20 two days before the start of the regular season. This is all new to him. “I’m still getting used to the travel,” said Brown. “Like, I’ve never taken so many naps in my entire life. But just from all the travel, you’re tired. You’re body’s fatigued getting off of airplanes with the jet lag.”
He added, “You definitely get the feeling that it is a business. At the same time, it’s a lot of fun.
“You only get one chance to be a rookie, so try to make the most of it.”
But time constraints have kept him from taking in all that his inquisitive mind would wish. This is, after all, a guy who was excited about visiting Harvard and MIT and has also taken in a Bruins game.
“Not as much as I would like,” he said on the subject of exploring NBA cities, citing New Orleans as one of the few he got to see “a little bit.”
“I like New Orleans,” Brown said. “There’s really good food, and I like the culture of New Orleans. Music is really something I’m interested in, the jazz and things like that. Other than that, I haven’t really gotten the chance to see much.”
Interesting to note: Brown’s 20 points came in 30 minutes Friday. The only other time this season he has played 30, he went for 19 in Cleveland on Nov. 3.