Tori Sheffer

Al Horford’s Iconic Performance in a Bucks Beatdown

By Tori Sheffer

The Celtics have just overcome arguably one of if not the hardest stretches of their 2024-2025 season after having just completed five games in seven nights. It’s no secret that basketball is a taxing sport, especially when playing with a team at the caliber of this season’s Celtics, so it could have been very easy for the team to lose stream in this grueling midseason stretch; however, Joe Mazzulla had a different plan. One that gave one of the team’s veteran stars a chance to see some postseason-like action in addition to giving some of our core starters some much-needed reprieve. Anyone who watched last Friday’s matchup between these division rivals knows that 38-year-old vet, Al Horford was the game’s MVP in the narrow 111-105 win over the Bucks. Horford has truly emerged as the sixth starter for Mazzulla’s Celtics, especially with Porzingis out, and it’s been nice to see him have his groove back on the court in such a consistent manner. 

In last week’s game against the Bucks, Horford put on a defensive masterclass as he squared up against none other than Bucks Power Forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo; holding him to only 30 points, 25 shot attempts, and only 6 free throw attempts. Big Al went minute-fo-minute with him (36 minutes), which was a crazy ask of him, but he prevailed heroically resulting in becoming the team’s secret weapon. Massive credit needs to be given to Joe Mazzulla who saw the perfect opportunity to utilize Horford to his full capacity in a crucial win while giving him the maximum amount of recovery time after pushing Horford as hard as he did in the game against the Bucks. While the schedule is seemingly less than ideal with the back-to-back against the Grizzlies the following night, it allowed for Mazzulla to use Horford optimally against the Bucks knowing that Horford notoriously sits during one game of back-to-backs in recent years, so after his star performance, he was able to catch his breath with a day off on the 7th, and almost five full days rest, so he should be ready to return for tomorrow’s game against the Pistons. 

In addition to his defense, Horford was a key component in the offensive game in Friday’s win as well. If this season has given Horford anything, it has given him some great minutes on the court amid his playing time is limited, and a lot more confidence to let the ball fly from beyond the three-point line, which has been such a joy to watch, specifically since Mazzulla’s tenure began in 2023. One moment in last Friday’s game that really showcased Mazzulla’s extension of Horford’s offensive clutch this past week was right in the last minute and a half of the game. Jrue Holiday collected the rebound after the massive clutch stop, and typically that’s when Mazzulla would opt to slow the game down; however, in last Friday’s game against the Bucks, he let the boys kick it into a higher gear as after Holiday got the ball, he kicked it over to Horford who took the brief window of opportunity that opened to go deep, and it was successful (not to mention surprisingly aggressive for anyone with that little time on the clock, especially Horford).  The evolution of Horford’s three has been documented by so many, and while he did have success with the three in Atlanta, it took a step up when he arrived in Boston in 2021. During Mazzulla’s first season with the Celtics, 3-pointers made up 67.8% of Horford’s points whereas the year prior, Horford’s sophomore season with the Celtics, 3’s only made up 46.6% of his points. Not to mention him setting career records offensively this year averaging his career-lowest 2-point attempts and career-high 3-point attempts per game. The Celtics center only went 2 of 7 in last Friday’s game, but his overall season numbers have been something to note for sure, and without him in the clutch, the Celtics wouldn’t have been able to pull out that win. 

So, despite Khris Middleton’s return and a stellar fight from the Bucks, they were no match for the Celtics’ stellar defense, more particularly they were not ready for Big Al who gave his all both offensively and defensively in the gritty win against the Eastern Conference rival. Another notch that Horford has in his belt is that of his veteran presence in the locker room. After last Friday’s win, Jrue Holiday went on record to mention that, “He’s the one who holds [us] all together.” Horford genuinely seems to enjoy playing amongst such a young core, and at that, he also seems to love covering young stud players defensively. As mentioned earlier in the article, the rumors going around are that Big Al will be ready to return to normal duties in tomorrow night’s home game against Detroit. Tune in at 7:30 pm to see how Mazzulla can utilize our secret weapon against the Pistons in hopes of leading us to 20-5!