Al Horford had one of the most important games of his career on Friday night as he led the Boston Celtics to a shocking 120-108 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. What cannot be denied right now is that Horford is going to be playing a critical role for Boston as they look to upset the heavily-favored Dubs in this series.

The Celtics big man was visibly emotional in Game 1 and it looks like it worked wonders for him. Horford recently opened up about this and it looks like he's going to be wearing his heart on his sleeve the rest of the way:

“That's fair,” Horford said as he talked about letting out his emotions, via Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. “I just think it's the playoffs, a lot of emotion into these games, a lot of emotions, and I feel like as we keep going along, it just keeps getting more intense. Yeah, just kind of letting some stuff out now.”

Horford dropped a team-high 26 points in Game 1 on 9-of-12 shooting. He also went 6-of-8 from downtown while also logging six rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 33 minutes of play.

Horford also recently lost his grandfather and this could explain why the Celtics veteran has been quite emotional of late. He is clearly drawing inspiration from somewhere.