Al Horford thanked God for being touched in match 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Two years after he left the Boston Celtics as a free agent, the former Horford team gave him another chance by regaining a contract that the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder had written off in the meantime. The 15-year-old veteran paid every penny with 30 points in his playoff career, which saved the Celtics season and gave him another chance to win a team title, which he led to consecutive finals in the conference before a lifetime in the NBA.
Faced with the possibility of a 3-1 series deficit against the best player alive and his defenders, Horford scored 16 points in a 6-on-6 shooting in a stunning return in the fourth quarter, bringing Boston a second-round match with two-time MVP Janice Adetokunmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks draw 2-2.
Another flaw of the playoffs in a career full of them was looking Horford in the face. A minute after the third quarter, Adetokunmpo stabbed Horford and looked him in the eye, winning a technical foul for ridicule. Horford had pulled out the league’s toughest defensive task after Robert Williams III suffered a late injury and Grant Williams got into trouble and Adetokunmpo abused the old man.
Horford just nodded in response and said aloud, “OK,” as if marking the moment.
“I don’t know what he told me, but I really didn’t like the way he looked at me and the way he prepared for it,” Horford told reporters. “And at that moment, something changed with me.”
Milwaukee’s lead rose to 76-65 with 15:13 remaining after Adetokunmpo’s 13th point in the third quarter. Adetokunmpo had 28 points and 16 rebounds against 14 and 5 rebounds for Horford at the moment. The season was slipping away. It was also perhaps Horford’s last best chance in the ring. The final year of the $ 109 million deal he signed in 2019 is not fully guaranteed next season, nor is Boston’s path to the finals.
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So, a month after his 36th birthday, Horford started work in the fourth quarter against the most dominant force after Shaquille O’Neal and killed with a 116-108 victory. In the 10th minute, he bypassed Antetokounmpo, crashed over him and bent, inadvertently hitting Bucks’ superstar with his elbow and winning his own technical foul. The payoff equalized the game for the first time since the last minute of the second quarter.
“Man, we love Al,” said Celtics teammate Marcus Smart. “He’s the best vet I’ve ever had.”
“A lot of people at 35 can’t even play that way,” the 27-year-old Adetokunmpo told Horford at a post-match press conference. “We hope that we can be blessed when we are in his position, and when we grow old, we are still in the league and we can still compete at the highest level. This is the goal. He plays amazing and he is the reason they are still in the game. You should always give credit where it is due. “
Horford had not finished handing out the sentence. His 3-pointer to eight minutes to go gave Boston its first lead in the second half, 88-85. Milwaukee disobeyed and took the lead again, so Horford found Jason Tatum to lay and tie in the middle of the fourth. Horford tried 3 more for the lead in the next possession. His and each other’s 30 seconds later gave the Celtics a two-possession lead they would not give up.
“I remember coming in my new year and seeing Al Horford,” said Tatum, the 24-year-old rising star who scored 30 points. “I see him play all his life … He helped me a lot during the three years we played together, and I’m very lucky and lucky to be able to call Al a teammate.”
Horford lay on the court after enduring the final blow, watching the ball find the net for his only 30-point game in four Celtics seasons. Tatum patted his chest, as if to resuscitate Horford, who had another basketball life. He has two wins from the victory over the team that finished his last tour in the green, and 10 from immortality in the NBA, because one championship would secure his place in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity,” said the five-time All Star. “… It’s from sitting at home [last year]. This is from watching the playoffs. That’s because I don’t know what my future holds. “
The Bucks are a hell of a game to play, but Al Horford can see the light.
Boston Celtics veteran Al Horford scored a record 30 points in his playoff career against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 (Michael McLoney / USA Today Sports)
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Ben Rohrbach is a full-time writer for Yahoo Sports. Do you have any advice? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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