After assuming the role of President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens moved swiftly to bring back Al Horford, trading away Kemba Walker in the process.
Since resuming his career in Boston, Horford has been a core member of the rotation while also elevating his teammates with his veteran voice inside the locker room. When speaking to the media on April 17, following a Celtics practice session, head coach Joe Mazzulla credited Horford’s leadership.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s, he’s a lot of things for us,” Mazzulla said. “One of them is our emotional leader to where he has an innate maturity and ability to bring our game back with a big shot or a blocked shot. And so you know, he did that, where he hit the three on the wing. And then he had to block shots. And transition with about two minutes to go. And so we’re just really fortunate to have him his ability, not only what he can do from a basketball standpoint, but what he brings from an emotional leadership standpoint, not only does it help us over the course of the season, but in moments of games too.”
Despite being unable to participate in back-to-backs this season, Horford has enjoyed a productive year, averaging 9.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3 assists per game while shooting 47.6% from the field and 44.6% from deep in 63 appearances.
Dejounte Murray Praises Celtics Depth
On Saturday, April 15, the Boston Celtics made light work of the Atlanta Hawks as the duo faced off in game one of their first-round playoff series. When speaking to the media shortly after the contest concluded, Dejounte Murray credited Boston’s talent level and cohesiveness on the court.
“Obviously, that’s a talented team,” Murray said. “They shot the ball well; that’s what they do. They shoot the ball really well. And obviously, tonight, we didn’t shoot the ball the way we want to, but at the end of the day, I think you turn you turn a negative into a positive, and the positive is how we finished that game competing from the third and fourth quarter.”
Murray is a recent addition for the Hawks, having joined their roster during the 2022 off-season as Atlanta looked to add a defensive-minded guard next to All-Star scorer Trae Young.
Trae Young Sounds Off on Guarding Celtics
During his own post-game press conference, Young discussed the difficulties of trying to slow down the Celtics, partly due to the amount of offensive talent they have at their disposal.
“You got to try to force them to take tough twos,” Young said. “Not over helping too much, because that’s when they get wide-open threes and good looks at the three-point line. But we got to do a better job collectively at staying in front of our man and not them get layups. Because if let them get all into the lane for layups, then we got to help, and that’s how they get open threes. So we got to figure out how to just stay in front of our man and then not let them get easy looks”
Young and the Hawks will get another chance to blunt Boston’s offense when the two sides face off for game two of their series on Tuesday, April 18.
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Joe Mazzulla Explains How Al Horford Elevates Celtics