Al Horford keeps on coming up big in big moments for the Celtics: 'I relish these moments'

The Nuggets had one more chance. 

Derrick White had just stolen a long rebound and hit a floater, giving Boston a five-point lead with less than a minute to go. If Denver was going to steal a win, they needed to get a score and a stop on the ensuing possession. 

With 48 seconds left the Nuggets to the switch they wanted: Jamal Murray onto Al Horford at the logo and a whole lot of open space. 

He danced and dribbled to his right, but Horford slid over and took the bump. Murray spun, hesitated, and drove to his left, but Horford kept up, forcing Murray to pass it back to Nikola Jokic. 

But Horford read the play, jumped as Murray did, and deflected the pass. His momentum carried him out of bounds as Boston fought for the ball and ran out in transition. Jaylen Brown got the ball with a head of steam and a path to the rim, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught Horford sprinting back into the play. Brown faked, shoveled a pass to his center, and Horford laid it in to ice the game. 

“He’s supposed to dunk that,” Brown joked after the game. “But he’s got five kids so we let him slide.”

Brown was 11 years old when Horford broke into the league. Horford’s oldest son Ean, now a fixture around the arena and Boston locker room, is 10. But the father of five whose 39th birthday is three months from tomorrow, continues to hang with the NBA’s best. 

“He has the innate ability to impact the game in so many different ways,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He’s 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. It was amazing to watch.”

There's no doubt Horford paces himself during the regular season. He’s not driven by stats or status. He just wants to do what helps the Celtics win. But when it comes to facing some of the big-name bigs in the league, Horford tends to find another level. 

"I just like to compete,” Horford said. “It comes down to that. In Jokic's case, in my opinion, he's probably the top player in our league right now. … For me, when you go against a guy like that, it's not me against him. It's everybody really has to be synced in to what we need to do and what the game plan was.”

Ever humble, Horford politely distributes the credit to his teammates. But that's a bit of a media facade. Yes, he’s the guy Jayson Tatum regularly calls the best teammate he’s ever had, but Horford will gladly do whatever needs to be done to win. 

“I think some people mistake his kindness for weakness at times,” Mazzulla said. “He’s one of the most competitive people I know. You can tell when he brings it, and tonight was one of those nights.”

Horford is a critical piece to what the Celtics are able to do defensively. He has regularly drawn the toughest assignments in key moments. Whether it’s Jokic in this game or Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, or others in big matchups, Horford’s ability to hold his own is massively important. 

“I think it gives our team another layer of versatility, and it allows us to do more things on the defensive end,” Horford said. “For me to be able to handle the matchups and do that I feel like it just unlocks our team. We can do a lot of different things.”

One of those things, amazingly, remains his ability to switch onto guards. He doesn't do it as often anymore, but the Celtic trusted him to do it in that crucial moment late in the fourth quarter. 

“Our versatility can go beyond measure,” Mazzulla said. “One 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.”

Horford played 35 minutes to help beat the Nuggets, which showed how deep his well is if the Celtics need him to step up. He’ll have a few days to rebuild those reserves, but the list of NBA players who could still do what he is doing is short. Only five players in league history have been able to match Horford’s 19-point, eight-rebound, three-steal performance against Denver: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and Robert Parish. 

“I take pride in that and being there for my team and being there to help us do whatever has to be done to win,” Horford said. “I really just relish these moments and these type of games.”