BOSTON -- The final box score had Al Horford down for 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
But don’t be fooled.
Horford’s line in Game 1 of Boston’s first-round series was similar in many ways to what he has done throughout his career - provide high impact play that doesn’t always reflect itself in the stat sheet.
There were others who got more points and had a much sexier stat line, but make no mistake about it: Boston doesn’t win Game 1 without Al Horford, whose clutch basket-making in the third quarter would become the jumping-off point to Boston’s 84-74 comeback win.
The Celtics now lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 with Game 2 at the TD Garden on Wednesday night.
Boston spent a good chunk of the first half playing from behind and seemed to be a similar rut for the first few minutes in the third. Trailing 45-38, there was a stretch in which Horford scored five straight points which included a 3-point play to tie the game at 45-all.
Boston wasn’t done.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics continued to surge ahead with Horford’s five-point spurt part of an 11-0 Boston run.
And after Horford tied the game at 45, the Celtics would then close out the third with a 19-8 run capped off by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Terry Rozier to take a 64-53 lead going into the fourth.
“It was just one of those gritty games,” Horford said. “You have to continue to do all the little things.”
And Horford maybe more than any other Celtic, is a big key to those “little things” adding up to big wins.
“He’s our stabilizer in a lot of ways,” Stevens said of Horford.
And as the fourth quarter rolled around and Stevens emptied the bench soon after Boston’s lead leap-frogged the 20-point plateau, Horford was among the Celtics starters resting on the bench, taking in the team’s reserves putting the finishing touches on their Game 1 victory.
It was a night when Boston got contributions from a number of players, both starters and reserves.
But let’s be clear: this Celtics victory like so many others this season, was fueled in part by Horford coming through when it mattered most … even if his final stats don’t reflect that.
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