BOSTON — Al Horford caught the attention of many when the Celtics big man admitted that Joel Embiid being sidelined in Game 1 impacted Boston’s mental focus in its series-opening loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
But when a locked-in Horford met with reporters nine hours before tipoff for Game 2, his nonverbal cues hinted it wouldn’t be the case again. Horford acknowledged it wasn’t anything specific over the last 48 hours that made him feel that way, but rather a more extensive sample size.
“Just the type of guys we have,” Horford said after the team’s shootaround Wednesday at Auerbach Center. “I feel like we’ve responded all year in different situations so I don’t expect any less from our group.”
The Celtics have not lost two straight games this postseason and did so just six times during the regular season. Most recently, the Green responded to a Game 5 collapse against the Atlanta Hawks with a Game 6 road win. That underwhelming Game 5 last week had a lot of similarities to Game 1 on Monday night.
“We’re learning from the last game, just locking in a little more, and making sure we execute what we need better and that should put us in good position,” Horford said.
It will start on the defensive end, Horford believes. Boston, which had the second-best defensive rating in the regular season, has not been up to par during the postseason. The Celtics now have the 12th-best defensive rating among teams that made the playoffs, and all four teams below them have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs. The Game 1 loss in which the Celtics allowed Tyrese Maxey to score 26 points and De’Anthony Melton to chip in 17 points off the bench offered glaring examples.
“Just looking to be more focused on the defensive end,” Horford said. “We need to be better, we feel like we understand that, and that’s what we expect tonight.”
Horford added: “We’ll be ready to go tonight.”
It feels like the Celtics are in must-win territory after the 76ers won Game 1 and thus took home-court advantage in the semifinal series. Boston is a 7.5-point home favorite, the number moving from 10 points after the reported injury update on 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid.
