Nothing comes close to the pain of falling ever so short of the summit, like the Boston Celtics did in the 2022 NBA Finals against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. It's no secret that this pain of defeat has motivated the Celtics to play at an even better level than their 2021-22 output. So it stands to reason that the Celtics' 121-118 overtime win over the Warriors on Thursday night meant more to them than the average regular season game. And Al Horford is a testament to that.
Speaking with reporters following the Celtics' statement victory, Al Horford expressed just how important this win was to him.
“I wanted to win. I wanted to win really bad,” Horford said, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
Those weren't just empty words from the 36-year old veteran. Horford played as hard on the court as much as he said he wanted to win. He came up huge multiple times with the game hanging in the balance; Horford had two huge blocks in the final minutes of regulation to keep them within striking distance.
And to top off his impressive defensive performance, Al Horford was able to keep up with Stephen Curry stride for stride on the final possession of the fourth, eventually forcing him into a difficult shot at the buzzer.
And then in overtime, Horford came through yet again when the Celtics needed him. Horford nailed a huge triple to extend the Celtics' lead to four, 115-111, and he was instrumental in preventing Golden State from getting easy shots. On the night, he had 20 points, 10 boards, and three blocks, proving that despite his advanced age, he is still as instrumental as ever in getting the Celtics the win – just like he wanted.
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