Horford throws back Bucks
Veteran has vintage performance in Game 4 win
MILWAUKEE >> After getting dunked on twice by Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier in the night — at one point the Bucks star picked up a technical foul for taunting — Al Horford came back with something that had some extra sauce on it.
“Something switched with me,” the normally calm Horford said of the taunt.
So as part of a rampaging fourth quarter, quite possibly his best as a Celtic, Horford dunked over the Bucks star, drew the foul, picked up a Flagrant 1 foul in the process with an elbow to his opponent’s throat, and made his own free throw for an 81-81 tie with 9:51 left.
Horford preceded to the free throw line while his shot to Anteetokounmpo’s throat was being video reviewed, with a double fist pump to the crowd. And on a night when Jayson Tatum didn’t heat up until late, Horford took the scoring lead, among other things shooting 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
It was enough to overcome another onslaught (34 points, 18 rebounds) by Antetokounmpo.
Horford and Tatum each finished with 30 points on a night when the Celtics needed every drop in their 116-108 Game 4 win, evening the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals series at 2-2. Game 5 is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at TD Garden.
“It helped everybody. (Jaylen Brown) with the foul trouble, Jayson got it going late, but with Al we know we can give him a certain shot every time,” said Ime Udoka. “We’ve told him to be extremely aggressive, 5-for-7 tonight, he’s got nine threes up in this series, so he can get those looks whenever. It’s good to have that outlet out there, and then they start to close out on him a little differently the way they close out on Grant, and then he starts to get downhill and getting other guys shots. We like to hide him in certain areas on the court, spread out Lopez some. He’s going to come out and help on penetration and Al is getting those wide open looks in the corner.”
Not to mention the occasional game-changing dunk.
“I think it did,” Udoka said of whether Horford’s dunk changed the game. “I didn’t see the follow through on what he did, but it sounded like he cracked him pretty good, energied the group. He’s been great all year, but we really needed him to step up with guys being out. He took that on his shoulders. They guard him a certain way, he’s able to attack, love the aggressiveness and extra.”
The Celtics were able to come back from an 11-point third quarter deficit — cut it to seven points by the start of the fourth — and on a night when their offense was once again stuck in a lower gear, that was enough of a sign of progress.
“Playoffs are emotional, intense, tonight things weren’t going our way. Smart kept telling us in the huddle to stay with it. Marcus was instrumental,” said Horford. “There’s not much to say. It’s kind of contagious, motivates everyone, and yeah, just want to keep it going.
“(Smart) showed us tonight why he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, guarding Giannis the way he did. I think that was the difference.”
Tatum’s drive with 4:31 gave the Celtics a 10096 lead, and following a Bucks turnover, he slashed for a three-point play and a 103-96 lead at the expense of George Hill. Antetokounmpo was called for an offensive foul, and Tatum buried a deep 3-pointer.
The result was a 106-96 Celtics lead, their biggest of the night. Grayson Allen answered from downtown, cutting the margin to seven points with 3:05 left.
Tatum came back with a lunging, falling bank shot that Wesley Matthews answered with a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to 108-102.
Smart muscled in for a 110-102 lead, and Jaylen Brown, fouled by Antetokounmpo, hit two free throws for a 112-102 Celtics lead with 1:27 left. Smart curled into the lane with a short turnaround, Antetokounmpo answered at the rim, and Derrick White was intentionally fouled, hitting twice with 43.2 seconds left for a 116-106 lead.
Tatum admits that Horford helped pull him along, especially coming in off a 10-point Game 3 performance by the Celtics star.
“I played terrible Game 3 and we still almost had a chance to win,” said Tatum. “I was eager to get back, just wanting to play better at both ends of the floor. I was really eager for this game to get going.
“Al’s been great for the team and great for me. I remember coming in my rookie year and seeing Al Horford. It was great to see somebody take care of their body and be the ultimate professional, the ultimate teammate. Very lucky and fortunate to call Al a teammate.”