The Boston Celtics are days away from kicking off their follow-up campaign after finishing atop the Eastern Conference and 15-year veteran Al Horford has faith in the squad’s preparation before opening night.
Horford, entering his age 36 season amid his fifth run with the Celtics, partook in the deepest playoff run — in 13 attempts — of his career with Boston last season.
“The biggest thing for us was we’re ready to start the season,” Horford said, according to The Athletic’s Jay King. “We’ve kind of waited all summer to be in this position again. And at that point, it’s like you have a choice: You get caught up in this you can’t control or you look ahead and get to work. We just looked ahead and continued to work.”
Last season the Celtics defense was their season-long strength, finishing atop the league in defensive rating (106.2). Horford, who averaged 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game during the year, emphasized the importance of establishing that identity and on-floor presence — regardless of the various changes to the Celtics roster, which includes offseason additions along with the absence of defensive anchor Robert Williams. After finishing second in the league in blocks per game (2.2) last season, Williams suffered an offseason setback as he is set set to miss 8-to-12 weeks while recovering from a knee injury that the 24-year-old played through during the playoffs.
“I feel like our identity’s established,” Horford said, per King. “I feel like we know who we are. I think last year, at the beginning of the year and throughout, we were trying to find who we are. Going into this year, we understand who we are and what we’re about. And we’re ready to go. I think the mindset, how engaged, how connected we are on the defensive end really doesn’t matter who is out there. Obviously, we miss Rob (Williams) and we do hope that he gets back. But the way we have to look at it is different guys need to be able to step up and fill in. And it will be a different challenge, but I feel like everybody understands it. And we’re up for what we have coming.”
Horford, the Celtics and first-year interim head coach Joe Mazzulla have one more preseason game before taking the floor against the Philadelphia 76ers next Tuesday to begin the regular season.
