Boston Celtics: Al Horford unjustly deemed “weakest link” in C’s starting 5

The Boston Celtics have been playing like one of the top teams in the NBA throughout this second-half stretch of the 2021-22 campaign and, heading into the postseason, they are viewed by many as being a legitimate threat to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy and, in turn, raise banner No. 18 into the rafters back at TD Garden.

However, accomplishing such a feat will certainly be a challenge for any team vying for a championship, especially for the C’s who, in recent weeks, have endured quite a bit of hardship, as past health problems have finally managed to catch up with some of their more vital contributors.

Heading into the postseason, Boston is slated to be without their rising star center, Robert Williams III, as he sustained a torn meniscus in his left knee earlier this week that, as a result, required surgery and is projected to have him sidelined for about four to six weeks.

Losing Time Lord down low is already proving to be a tough pill for this team to swallow, as they’ve gone 0-2 since he’s been ruled out of the rotation.

Now, as we inch closer to the playoffs, concerns are starting to grow pertaining to the lacking depth that the shamrocks have in tow to try and mitigate their frontcourt loss, and, while we at HH believe that having veteran, Al Horford, to pick up some of the slack is going to help soften the blow, some are simply just not as high on the big man as we are.

In fact, the folks at Bleacher Report would go as far as to say that, of all the players found within the starting lineup for the shamrocks, the 35-year-old is the unit’s weakest link, and they even believe that replacing him for third-year forward, Grant Williams, could go on to benefit the Boston Celtics in the long run:

"Subbing Horford out in favor of Grant Williams has actually resulted in an even more successful five-man unit for the Celtics, one that registers a net rating of plus-31.0 (albeit in just 109 total minutes). Williams is Boston’s best three-point shooter (42.0 percent), so putting him in a starting lineup where no other player connects on 35.6 percent of their attempts adds another dynamic.Williams has averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and nailed 43.4 percent of his threes in 19 games as a starter, so the Celtics should feel comfortable making the switch if they feel more floor-spacing is needed."

Now, granted, writer Greg Swartz did go on to state that, due to the absence of Robert Williams, benching Horford may not be all that great of an idea but, to us, we feel that even if health were completely on their side the notion of benching the veteran seems a bit unjust.

Despite the fact that we saw the big get off to a rather lackadaisical start to his return campaign with the Boston Celtics (especially on the offensive side of the ball), during their in-season turnaround Al Horford has been perhaps the team’s most underrated contributor.

Since the mid-way mark, the 15-year pro has been a tremendously efficient player for the C’s, boasting solid all-around averages of nine points, 7.6 boards, 2.9 assists, 1.2 blocks, and just shy of a steal per game on 47.5 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent shooting from deep while sporting a plus-minus rating of +9 along the way.

On the year as a whole, we find him snatching rebounds up at his highest rate since 2013, shooting at the second-highest rate of his career from inside the arc (57 percent), and swatting shots away at a career-high percentage of 4.3, all while holding the second-best defensive box plus-minus rating (2.8, which is also the best mark of his career) and overall defensive rating (104) on the team out of those who have logged over 600 minutes.

From his expertise to help make Ime Udoka’s squad the most ferocious unit on the less glamorous side of the ball to his floor spacing and distribution skills that have elevated the efficiency of the offense (it’s no coincidence that the shamrocks have skyrocketed up to fourth in offensive rating once Horford started to become more comfortable and find his groove), the 5x All-Star has been an absolute gem for the boys in green throughout this second half of the season.

Arguably just as vital to the success found by the Boston Celtics during this year’s campaign as anyone else on the team, seeing Al Horford be listed as the weakest link within the starting rotation leaves a bad taste in our mouths here at the Houdini.