Veteran big man Al Horford delivered his best performance of the postseason at an opportune time. He contributed 22 points, 15 rebounds and five assists as the Celtics eliminated the Cavaliers on Wednesday. He also held down Darius Garland on switches, Jared Weiss of The Athletic notes.
“There’s obviously things that you have to focus on, rebounding and stuff like that, but it made us answer the bell,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “You’ve got to guard your yard. This is what it takes to win this game, this is what it takes to win this series.”
Horford felt his team looked flat in the first half and he needed to do something to change the momentum. “I just wanted to bring that energy to our group, and the group was able to feed off it,” he said.
Horford, 37, has one more year remaining on his contract with a $9.5MM salary.
We have more on the Celtics:
- Jaylen Brown has taken note of the spirited battles between the Knicks and Pacers. He feels the key to the Eastern Conference Finals will be Boston matching the intensity level of the opponent, he told Jay King of The Athletic. “Definitely gotta get ready to just bring it,” Brown said. “Both of those teams play hard as s–t. That’s what you’ve gotta be ready for. It’s just, how bad do you want it? Those dudes are out there putting their lives on the line, it seems like. They’re diving for loose balls, pulling hamstrings, whatever. How much are we willing to do that? That’s going to be the key.”
- Brown’s bank account got a boost thanks to Boston reaching the conference finals. He gained a $369,048 bonus under the terms of his contract, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
- Ending the second round series in five games buys more time for Kristaps Porzingis‘ return to action from a calf injury, Brian Robb of MassLive.com notes. Boston’s regulars will be well rested for the conference finals, reducing the need to get Porzingis back into action right away. He’ll also get a couple extra days to recover if the Pacers-Knicks series, or the Nuggets-Wolves, goes the limit. In those instances, Boston would host Game 1 on Tuesday instead of Sunday. Porzingis has begun light workouts during his rehab.
- Mazzulla showed his growth in the deciding game of the Cleveland series in terms of making in-game adjustments, Robb writes. The Celtics’ head coach was proactive with his timeouts and stuck with Horford instead of going with a smaller lineup in the second half. The offensive strategy also worked well in the fourth quarter with Brown and Jayson Tatum setting up their teammates.
Celtics are the same team that lost to the Heat last year. Mazzulla has not changed at all. What games are you watching? A team without its #1, #2 and best guy off the bench were not playing and it took 3 1/2 quarters for the Celtics to pull away.
Meanwhile, they still dont move on offense (sorry Charles been saying this for years), tthey still jack up ANY 3 pt shot they can get off and the only guy playing D and showing heart is the 35 year old who would not be playing much if Porzingis was healthy.
I am a Celtic fan, but this team is infuriating to watch and NOT ENTERTAINING at all. Jack up 3s and then complaining to the refs is not an offense.
Joe Mazzulla is always the lesser coach in any match up and it shows. Al Horford saved last night from another embarassing, home playoff loss.
They have nothing for Joker and he knows it.
The Cavs got this far also not having health for most of the year. You’re grossly underestimating how deep that team is.
Celtics won in 5 games which is about what you’d expect. It took the world champions 5 games just to beat the Lakers.
If you look for things to be upset over you’ll always be successful. At the end of the day the team did what they needed to do and got the outcome they needed to have.
There. There.
Life is short sweetie. If it isn’t entertaining, don’t watch. Playoff hockey is on. Or criminal minds reruns.
They aren’t the same team, Holiday and Porzingis are, in Smart and Rob Williams are out. If you can’t even acknowledge that one simple fact, the rest of your diatribe is pointless to read.
Nobody has anything for Joker
In that close out game against the Cavs Celts offense alternated very well. They’d pass, then they would go ISO. I like it. Keep changing things up, keep taking advantage of all our many & solid three point shooters and also Jaylen and Jason’s abilities to get to the hoop. Go Celtics!
PS. Talk about complaining how about that annoying Max Strus?
If BOS has an issue in always playing to their potential, particularly in games they’re expected to win, it certainly didn’t start under Mazzulla. Real or imagined, it’s been there in the records, on and off, since Tatum’s rookie season. In 2020, under Stevens, they lost the first two games of the ECF at home. Udoka’s 2022 team lost 2 home games to each of MIL and MIA before narrowly escaping with the series win (they nearly blew a game they were up by 20 late in the 4th), and then dropped 2 more home games to the GSW in the Finals. Mazzulla’s team, last year, for sure contibuted.
This thing (if it is a thing, and I think it is) was something Mazzulla inherited. In any event, these kind of things don’t just go away, certainly not by the hand of coach. Like with any addiction, you can only deal with it by managing it day to day, and responding strongly to the worst it has to offer. IMO, Mazzulla has done a good job with that.
Not saying the two teams are equal in talent, but even the Warriors were the same way. Nuggets are too, so far. As were Hardens Rockets. We’ve had about a decade of these “3 point or bust” teams and I think we’ve seen pretty consistently that they aren’t consistent. They will win the 7 game series they are supposed to win but it’s very rarely a clean sweep. Always 1-2 duds per series where the shooting just isn’t there.
That’s all true (and sweeps are rare historically as well). It’s also true that once a narrative develops people tend to see it in all things, and that tendency is likely present here as well. But, then again, this narrative didn’t invent itself. BOS, over the past 5 years, has an unusually high number of home playoff losses in games where they are a heavy favorite, and appear to be the superior team. I don’t think they lost these games for mysterious reasons that differ from why other greatly talented teams lost games in the past. They just lost more frequently, and did it without a championship.
(if it is a thing, and I think it is)
It definitely was a thing. Hard to tell if it still is with Holiday there instead of Smart and Porzingis there instead of Rob and Grant Williams.
Holiday leading the team instead of Smart is an ENORMOUS difference.
I see Coach Mazzulla as doing a terrific job. Along with that I agree with Jalen Brown’s comments that bringing “intensity” is what the Celts have to do. And that intensity is hard to keep up for favorites … as it is for defending champ Denver. Underdogs don’t have this problem. They know having less talent their only chance is to play with more energy. Go Celtics!