![\"Al](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/03\/02194104\/GettyImages-2202300941-scaled-e1740964585886.jpg?width=1200&height=630&fit=cover\")
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BOSTON \u2014 Joe Mazzulla didn\u2019t need to tell Al Horford how much the Boston Celtics would demand from him Sunday. With Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is sidelined by an illness in a matchup against the Denver Nuggets and three-time MVP Nikola Joki\u0107, Horford must have recognized the extent of his responsibilities on his own. Plus, Mazzulla suggested, Horford doesn\u2019t need any pep talks when Boston needs him most.<\/p>\n
\u201cNah,\u201d Mazzulla said with a big grin. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Celtics don\u2019t need to wind up Horford. He already has a battery in his back when he sees one of the NBA\u2019s premier big men on the other side of the court. It was Joki\u0107 on Sunday, when Horford\u2019s 19 points and eight rebounds keyed a 110-103 Boston win, but it could have been Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel Embiid. Even at age 38, Horford craves the biggest games against the best opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really just relish these moments,\u201d Horford said, \u201cand these type of games.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bigger the game, the tougher the opponent, the more likely Horford is to blast his music. Sunday, he did it on both ends of the court, falling one shy of his season high in points while tussling with Joki\u0107 for the majority of Boston\u2019s defensive possessions. Horford, easily the Celtics\u2019 best matchup for Joki\u0107, never ran out of gas despite reaching the 35-minute mark for just the third time this season. While scoring 13 points in the first half, Horford showed a rare willingness to look for his offense inside. He finished with three steals and three fast-break layups while helping the Celtics hold Joki\u0107 to 20 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just like to compete,\u201d Horford said. \u201cIt comes down to that. In Joki\u0107\u2019s case, in my opinion, he\u2019s probably the top player in our league right now. It\u2019s just so much that he does. He\u2019s so difficult to defend because he\u2019s so unpredictable. What makes it worse is that he plays the right way. He\u2019s looking to make winning plays, and somehow he still gets all these crazy numbers and these crazy stats.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, when you go against a guy like that, it\u2019s not me against him. It\u2019s everybody really has to be synced in (to) what we need to do and what the game plan was. I felt like our guys were tonight, and they provided that help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horford\u2019s numbers have dipped. His touches have dropped. After all these years, he remains indispensable for the Celtics, especially against the league\u2019s best big men.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d Derrick White said. \u201cEspecially guys of the highest caliber of Joki\u0107. You\u2019ve seen him guard pretty much every big in the league, so it\u2019s a lot of trust we have in him. He\u2019s always going to make it difficult for them, as difficult as you can. He\u2019s just a great guy to have on your team.\u201d<\/p>\n
How difficult is Joki\u0107 to cover? Mazzulla said the Celtics didn\u2019t even focus on him in the game plan. They spent more time worrying about the details they could disrupt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about him,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cIt\u2019s about controlling all the other stuff that you can control. They\u2019re one of the best teams in the league on cuts. Can you take all their cuts? Can you take away their transition leak-outs by not turning it over, by crashing the offensive glass? Can you try to keep him off the free-throw line? Can you win the minutes that he\u2019s not on the court?\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with that mentality, the Celtics weren\u2019t just going to shrug their shoulders and let Joki\u0107 do whatever he pleased.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t really talk about it, but you know everything runs through him,\u201d Horford said. \u201cHe\u2019s such a smart player that it\u2019s difficult. So what you want to do is, to Joe\u2019s point, try to limit other guys the best way that you can and take away certain tendencies and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Celtics prioritized rim protection by starting Luke Kornet alongside Horford. Kornet, assigned to Russell Westbrook, essentially begged the nine-time All-Star to shoot from the outside. That strategy left Kornet near the basket, where Joki\u0107 does so much damage as a scorer and passer. That extra layer of help defense gave Horford a security blanket. Still, even against the top players, he doesn\u2019t need much of one.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou take a look at his stat sheet, it doesn\u2019t always show what he does for us,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cMost of what he does can\u2019t be measured. But he has the innate ability to impact the game in so many different ways, and he\u2019s one of the best players in the league at guarding the other best players in the league, no matter the position that they have. He was just elite tonight on the defensive end of the floor with his positioning, his communication, his physicality, his rebounding. So it was amazing to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Celtics trust Horford to handle some of the league\u2019s most difficult matchups without double-teams. His versatility tends to show the most in pivotal moments. He guarded Joki\u0107 for most of the afternoon but switched on to Jamal Murray multiple times late in the fourth quarter. The Celtics changed their defensive coverages after Murray drilled a 3-pointer over Horford with three minutes left. He was laying back on the play.<\/p>\n
A couple of minutes later, Murray took advantage of Boston\u2019s new strategy. When Horford pressed up on Murray to force a drive with a little more than a minute left, the Denver guard drove past the big man to cut Boston\u2019s advantage to 102-99.<\/p>\n
On the following Nuggets possession, they again tried to target Horford on the switch. He was ready for the challenge.<\/p>\n
Horford\u2019s deflection started a fast break. He hustled to finish the sequence with a game-sealing layup that had only one problem, according to Jaylen Brown.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s supposed to dunk that,\u201d Brown said, \u201cbut he\u2019s got five kids so we let him slide.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to joke about Horford\u2019s age, but he has stayed in good enough shape to keep up with a young man\u2019s game. Not many centers can stand up to the league\u2019s bulkiest players on the low block and then switch out onto the highest-scoring guards, but he does it all for the Celtics defense. Beyond the matchup against Joki\u0107, Horford had some extra incentive Sunday. After consecutive losses to the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers, he said he wanted to avoid his team\u2019s first three-game losing skid of the season. The Celtics, without two starters in Porzi\u0146\u0123is and Jrue Holiday (finger), knew Denver would challenge them too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always fun to play these types of games,\u201d Horford said. \u201cMore than anything for us, we lost two and (were) on the verge of losing three in a row. I feel like our group, we knew we had to respond. Short-handed again and just kind of find a way. It felt like our energy from our group was great tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
So much of that energy stemmed from Horford.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe helps us \u2014 our versatility can go beyond measure,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cOne of the best things he does is his positioning and his pick-and-roll communication, and so it just gives us a ton of versatility. We can play small with him at the five. We could play big. He could play alongside someone else. But just as much as he helps us versus the opponent, he helps us in our own locker room because of his competitiveness. I think some people mistake his kindness for a weakness at times, but he\u2019s one of the most competitive people I know. You can tell when he brings it, and tonight was one of those nights.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Celtics see Horford ramping up his intensity, they follow his lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s there,\u201d Brown said, \u201cyou know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think every game he brings it,\u201d White added, \u201cbut (he) just kind of had that edge today. I feel like when he\u2019s saving the ball or creating extra possessions for us, that\u2019s kind of like when you notice it. But we definitely had that mindset, and we did a better job than we have in the past of finding him, and he made big plays for us on both sides of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“You take a look at his stat sheet, it doesn’t always show what he does for us,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Horford.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":39122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-39106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-boston-celtics"],"yoast_head":"\n