Boston Celtics Need Al Horford to Bounce Back Against the Heat

The Boston Celtics need Al Horford to get back to his offensive dominance to keep the streak going

Al Horford has been the most consistent and balanced presence on the Boston Celtics since he signed a max contract with the team. For much of this year, he has been dominant on both ends, and have many people putting him into DPOY and MVP conversations. The Celtics won their games with him sidelined, but he has been equally if not more responsible for this run than anyone else on the team.

In their most recent victory against the Dallas Mavericks, Horford finally had his first bad game of the season, especially on the offensive end. One of the best parts about him in his ability to have an impact on defense while struggling on offense, but the key to his success with the Celtics has been that two way impact, and that was not there in Dallas.

Horford hit just one shot on just five attempts, and being held to just three points made each of Kyrie Irving’s 47 points essential. Naturally, Horford still had seven assists and eight rebounds, finishing a plus 15. Horford always finds a way to have an impact, but he needs to bounce back on the offensive end and that will start with him being more aggressive.

Horford was clearly off, and he is not the type of player that is going to shoot out of his slumps. He missed good looks, got way too tentative, and some uncharacteristic turnovers followed after that. Horford did not have a bad game by a lot of standards, but this offense needs an aggressive Horford, and that is the most important thing for him to bounce back.

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The Celtics are seeing the real kind of damage that Irving can do on offense now, Jaylen Brown is scoring more consistently than most expected, and Jayson Tatum is one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA, despite being one of the youngest regular players on a contending team.

That being said, Horford impacts his teammates in a different way, and when he is playing his best on offense everything around him is elevated. The Celtics know they have a lot of room to improve on offense, and Horford is always going to be a key to getting the balance that this team needs to reach their potential.

The Celtics are getting a stark reality check when it comes to the offense on their second unit. The defense they are getting from their backups is unprecedented, but there have been too many liabilities, and not enough play makers for that unit to hold their own on that end.

The Celtics need their offense to come from their starting unit, and they need to be doing more than just enough. They need to be punishing their opponents, so they do not have a real opportunity to fight back into the game against a second unit that cannot do anything on that end.

Without Horford having a real impact, the starting unit will not be good enough on offense to make up for that second unit, and they will have to go back to what is reliable. The problem is that there will be defensive lapses in such a long season, and the Celtics need to know that they can go to their offense to pick up the slack in those situations.

Horford has been one of the best players in the league for the Celtics this season, and he has set an incredibly high standard for himself on both ends. Horford is crucial to everything anyone wants to do on this team. The Celtics have become dependent on his consistency on both ends, and his performance against the Mavericks was one of the few lapses.

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Horford may not have been bad enough to really call this a bounce back opportunity, but the Heat are a strong team that could be a threat to the Celtics if he is not having the kind of impact on offense that has been taken for granted for so long.

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