Jayson Tatum's offense, Al Horford's defense have Celtics one win from advancing in NBA playoffs
The Boston Celtics are one win away from advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs, thanks to a huge night from Jayson Tatum against the Magic in Orlando. But the C's wouldn't have beat the Magic, 107-98, without the toughness of veteran Al Horford.
The Celtics needed to respond after a frustrating Game 3 loss on Friday, and did just that thanks to Tatum's offensive explosion and Horford's defensive intensity.
Tatum led the way with a game-high 37 points and 14 rebounds for Boston. He made a statement in the fourth quarter when he scored nine of Boston's points during a game-closing/winning 16-7 run over the final 4:38.
Boston got plenty more offense from Jaylen Brown, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Derrick White dropped 18 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists, and Kristaps Porzingis regained his scoring touch with 19 points off 7-of-14 shooting. But it was Horford who set the defensive tone against the gritty Magic early, and then he rejected any notion of Orlando tying the series in the fourth quarter.
Horford logged a Kareem-like five blocks in the Boston victory, which was more than the entire Magic squad.
Al Horford's Game 4 block party
Horford blocked three Magic shots in the first quarter, setting the stage for a righteous defensive battle throughout Game 4. He sent back a layup attempt by Paolo Banchero in the opening minutes, and then closed out quickly to reject corner-three attempts by Franz Wagner and Anthony Black on each side of the court.
Horford also stepped in to make sure Orlando didn't go back to their usual antics early in the second half. He had words with Orlando big man Wendall Carter after it looked like he gave a little too much muscle while fouling Derrick White on his way to the basket. Horford waived a finger in Carter's face to keep him in check, though nothing really came from the play.
The soon-to-be-39-year-old then blocked two more shots in the fourth quarter, rejecting a Corey Joseph pullup with six minutes left and a Banchero shorty with 90 seconds remaining. Each rejection gave Boston some extra juice, and he also pulled down four of his six rebounds in the final frame. His offensive board on a Tatum missed three with 6:24 left led to an easy bucket for White, which the Celtics ahead 91-86.
Horford became the second-oldest player in NBA history to have five blocks in a postseason game, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, according to Celtics stats guru Dike Lipe.
"It riles us up. If Al can do it, fourth quarter, game on the line, there are no excuses for anybody else," Brown said of Horford's late-game heroics. "It just anchors us down."
Horford spent the entire night outmuscling Magic players for rebounds and tying them up on the defensive end. He crashed the paint hard throughout the game, which helped Boston match Orlando's physicality.
"There should be a separate stat sheet for guys like him because of the type of stuff that he does," head coach Joe Mazzula said of Horford. "Just an unbelievable competitor. He made all the plays necessary to help us win."
"I can't say it enough. Al is unbelievable," Tatum said after his own big night. "Big moments. Game is tied, four minutes left, and just making plays the entire night on both ends of the floor. He's 38 years old and he is picking them up full court, doing whatever is asked of him. That kind of sets the tone for everybody else. He's got the heart of a champion."
Horford stepped up in a big way to help Boston up their toughness and negate Orlando's overzealous nature. It helped Boston take control of the series, and now the C's have a chance to close things out Tuesday night at TD Garden.
Jayson Tatum's history-making Game 4
With Horford setting the tone on the defensive end, Tatum was in control on offense. His shot was a bit iffy as he hit just 10 of his 25 attempts from the floor and just three of 10 from downtown, but he made up for that by going to the line 14 times. Tatum connected on all 14 of his trips to the charity stripe, including 9-of-9 in the fourth quarter.
Tatum scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, including nine during the C's game-sealing run. He made a nice pull-up with 2:51 left (after he pulled down one of his 14 rebounds on the other end) to put Boston on top 98-92, before sealing the game at the free-throw line while hearing "MVP!" chants from the many Celtics fans in the crowd. Tatum also logged three of Boston's seven steals on the evening.
Let's turn once again to stats guru Dike Lipe, who shared that Tatum is the first player in NBA postseason history to score 35 or more points, hit 12 or more free throws, and have a perfect free-throw percentage in two straight games. Tatum scored 36 points and was a perfect 12-of-12 from the line in Boston's Game 3 loss, after returning from a one-game absence with a wrist injury.
Tatum has now scored 30 or more points in the playoffs 32 times in his career, trailing only Larry Bird (43) in Celtics history. Tatum and the Celtics will look to close out the Magic with a Game 5 win Tuesday night at TD Garden. The game is set to tip off around 8:30 p.m.
