A calming influence
Horford’s contributions go well beyond his play
Marcus Smart, whose fire has helped drive the Celtics to their 2-2 series tie with Milwaukee, can appreciate the opposite approach.
He appreciates the calm, steadied influence Al Horford has on the Celtics from night to night.
“It’s great, especially with me. I’m more energized, a little more sporadic than he is, and he’s always cool and calm every time,” said Smart. “So we balance each other out so it’s a big key to have him there to help us. But in all seriousness, Al, man, like I said, he’s been doing this for a very long time and he understands what he brings to the game and to this team, and we need every last bit of it on every night we can. So it’s a big, big, big, big, big — and I mean this — big key, Al being with us, and he makes it that much better.”
And then comes that rare night when Horford steps out of character and tears the house down, as he did with a playoff careerhigh 30 points in the Celtics’ Game 4 win on Monday night in Milwaukee.
He punctuated the feat, which included 5-for-7 3-point shooting, with a now-famous dunk, while also planting his elbow/ forearm in the mug of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Horford admitted he had been angered by a techearning taunt by the Bucks star earlier in the night.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Smart said of the dunk. “I wasn’t surprised at all, man. It was a big-time play, a big-time moment, and a physical game. We’ve been on the other end of those a couple of times, so it felt good to have that one. And, you know, Al still has it. At this age, he’s still able to get up like he does. So we weren’t surprised, but we were ecstatic for him and we needed it. But we felt it. Everybody did. The energy changed once that happened from Al. It got him going and it got everybody else going.”
Jayson Tatum, who picked up on the energy from Horford’s 16-point fourth quarter and put the game away, concurred.
“I mean, that was a hell of a play. Especially any time Al turns back the clock and look like his old self on those dunks, it gets everybody off the bench,” he said. “And Al plays with so much passion. When Al is playing with passion like that, everybody has to follow.
“Al’s been great for the team, Al’s been great for me. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with Al for three years and I remember coming in my rookie year and seeing Al Horford. I’ve been seeing him play my whole life, and it was great to see somebody taking care of their body, just be the ultimate professional, the ultimate teammate, and just all about the right things. Nobody can ever say anything about Al, and he’s helped me a great deal in the three years we’ve played together. I’m very lucky and fortunate to be able to call Al a teammate.”
Horford’s big night had some personal significance for the 35-year-old veteran.
According to stat guru Dick Lipe, it was the first time since 2019 that Horford has scored 22 or more points in consecutive games. He also became the first Celtic player 35 or older to score 30 points in a playoff game since Ray Allen scored a franchise (oldies) record 32 in a playoff game against the Knicks in 2011.
Plan of attack
Ime Udoka’s big Game 4 adjustment was to use Horford’s floor spacing against Brook Lopez, with the Bucks center dropping so deep in the paint, he couldn’t get back out on Horford in 3-point range. The floor eventually opened for Tatum down the fourth-quarter stretch. Look for Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer to adjust in some way to this wrinkle.
“They’re guarding him with a specific way. Anytime you have Lopez that far back in the drop, we can literally run a pick-and-pop anytime we want and get a wide open 3 at least,” said the Celtics coach. “Understanding that he gets into the rhythm, we tried to get him downhill a little bit. Give him some different looks. When you see him going a little bit, obviously have multiple sets where we can get JT or JB downhill against Lopez and always have that outlet to throw back to.
White’s progress
Derrick White’s 4-for-6, 11-point performance and the guard’s ability to simply make good plays was on display in Game 4, and marks an upswing in his scoring.
“He was good. We needed that with Jaylen (Brown, foul trouble) out,” said Udoka. “Him and Payton in that unit stepped up to play well and, like I said, it bought us more minutes. They have Holiday and Matthews as their main defenders on our main guys, so Derrick and other guys are going to have some favorable matchups that we like to attack at times. As I’ve said all along, it’s not only the scoring that stands out with what he does. It’s him getting into the paint, making the right play and if he has a favorable matchup, he can get downhill and get to his floater and pull up. He took some of those easy shots tonight and it obviously helped us in the third and fourth quarter.”