Hardwood Houdini
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Al Horford Needs to do a lot more of everything against Knicks

By Joshua Bateman

OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 27: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics , Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors react to a play during the game on January 27, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges
OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 27: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics , Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors react to a play during the game on January 27, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges /
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The Boston Celtics need a special game from Al Horford with Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart out

The Boston Celtics just found out that they will be without their top two point guards as Kyrie Irving joins Marcus Smart on the sidelines. On top of that, they may be missing even more depth as Shane Larkin is questionable. Right now, the Celtics really cannot expect much from their point guards, and all of that pressure gets to be transferred to Al Horford.

They have other options that can try and pick up the scoring, but there is very little reliability there. Irving always brings a kind of reliability and consistency when it comes to scoring that no one else can match. The Celtics do not have many reliable shooters to help out, so Horford is going to need to find a way to maintain his efficiency, while having a huge increase in the volume.

Someone is going to have to take the shots that are missing with Irving, and it gets way too risky if too many of those shots are given to anyone other than Horford or Jayson Tatum. Horford is going to have to instigate a lot more for himself in this one. He will need to be more aggressive, and find a way to make more difficult shots than he is used to.

The Celtics can afford to see some of his efficiency drop, because he will still be more reliable than the rest of this roster, no matter what his numbers are looking like at that point.

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There is no doubt that Horford needs to be one of the players to pick up the scoring with Irving hurt, but he also needs to pick up the facilitating. The Celtics cannot hope to replace Irving’s individual scoring, so the ball movement is even more important.

With Smart also out of the picture, Horford is the only trusted facilitator left on the team. He needs to be the one getting everyone invovled any time he is on the court, and your guess is as good as mine as to how they will generate proper ball movement when Horford is on the bench.

The Celtics need a lot more of everything Horford can do on offense, because that will be their best way to try and replace some of the offense that is lost with Irving. The reality is that the Celtics will never be able to get the same offense without Irving, putting that much more pressure on Horford.

When you add on that Horford is going to be responsible for Kristaps Porzingis, this could easily be his most difficult game of the season. He needs to be able to shut down one of the most difficult matchups, while holding together everything around him.

The Celtics are going to want to play more small ball to keep as many shooters on the court as possible, and that continues to pile the strain on Horford. Horford already has the most different kinds of responsibilities on this team, and he is going to be the one they look at to make the biggest different in surviving these injuries.

Next: Terry Rozier put in Spotlight with Irving Injury

There is no telling how Terry Rozier will do in his increased role, because we are yet to see him with this kind of responsibility. Rozier could end up making up a lot of the difference, but right now Horford is the best player on the court, and needs to be the one they can rely on to step things up.

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