Boston Celtics star Al Horford fired a warning to rival fans after helping his team to a 128-120 victory over Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, that saw them advance in the NBA Play-Offs.
The Celtics and the Hawks were level at 113-113 with under four minutes remaining when the 36-year-old scored a three-pointer in front of the bench. That score was part of a 14-3 run that helped the visitors pull away from their rivals to secure their place in the second round. And it came after Horford had been trashed talked by a fan at the State Farm Arena.
With Celtics struggling to find their rhythm in the opening two quarters of the game, one fan in the crowd gave Horford an earful at half time. And after the encounter, the player admitted the trash talk proved inspirational.
“Yeah, there was somebody there,” the center told reporters. “I'm not gonna call him out, but he was. I appreciate it, because he got me going. He said some stuff there that I wasn't very pleased with, and I took it to heart. I was able to get that shot, so I appreciate him for talking trash to me.
"Some people you can talk trash to. You talk trash to me, probably not good for you.”
Horford spent nine years with the Hawks between 2007 and 2016 before moving to the Celtics for his first spell in Boston. And the veteran finished Thursday’s series clinching victory with 10 points along with 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
“We’ve been hearing it the whole play-offs, but definitely tonight,” explained Horford’s team-mate Marcus Smart after the game. “We didn’t expect nothing less. We were hearing their crowd on their home floor. Al obviously used to play here. So, it was big for him. It was big for us and we’re happy for him.”
Meanwhile Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla added: “I liked how we didn’t relax. We were proactive, we were organised, we had the proper spacing. Definitely different from Game 5. I thought Smart was tremendous, especially late in the fourth quarter. He got us organised and he was kind of a trigger man because of their hits and their blitzing.”
And he added: “I think it was our pace in our offensive end. I thought last game because of me and my play calling we played slow. I thought this game I kind of learnt from that and they were very proactive.”
The second-seeded Celtics are now set to face the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, with their first match-up scheduled to take place in Boston on Monday.
