An underwhelming performance from Horford

What Celtics coach Brad Stevens needs from center Al Horford isn’t what he got in last night’s 111-97 pasting by the Chicago Bulls at the Garden.

The Celtics are down 0-2 in their Eastern Conference first round matchup against the Bulls with Game 3 scheduled for Friday night at the United Center in Chicago.

“We just need him to be the best version of himself,” said Stevens about Horford in the postgame press conference.

“I thought he did a good job, especially early in the game on the first four possessions. He was the one that was cleaning up all of the rebounds and I thought he was pretty active in blocking out the whole night rebounding for us. We have to play him in the four and in the post some and get good position down there.”

Horford had little to show for the 31:36 minutes he spent on the parquet while being outplayed by Bulls’ pivot man Robin Lopez on both ends of the floor.

Horford was 3-of-8 shooting from the floor and finished with only seven points, 11 rebounds and five assists with a dreadful minus-19.Lopez was deadly with medium-range jumpers, making 8-of-11 shots from the floor for 18 points with eight rebounds and a plus-17.

Horford’s production dropped off from the Bulls’ 106-102 victory in the series opener on Sunday, when he netted 19 points with eight field goals, seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists.

“As far as getting off to a slow start, I think the way I tried to play is off what the defense gives,” Horford said. “For those who really understand the game, they were packing the paint making us find shooters.

“Tonight I wasn’t able to get into a rhythm offensively. As far as the defense goes I feel we played better at times. We still need to get better as a group.”

Horford was Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge’s signature free agent acquisition during the offseason. Horford was brought in specifically to advance the team beyond the first round of the playoffs.

The Celts must win four of five to avoid being eliminated in the first round for the third straight season on Stevens’ watch.

“I think that is all we have,” Horford said. “Game 3 is a must win for us.”

The C’s shot 46.3 percent from the floor, 30.3 percent from behind the arc and a dismal 57.9 percent from the free throw line. They struggled to get out of a first quarter deficit and took their final lead, 34-33, on a Marcus Smart put back at 9:36 of the second quarter.

They fell further behind in the second half due to inconsistent defensive rebounding, turnovers and panic shooting. That combination led to a deficit that grew as large as 19 points.

“I think we rushed a little bit at times on offense,” said Horford. “We had some careless turnovers that aren’t typical of our team.

“It gave them some rhythm and it hurt us.”