Al Horford Sees ‘Slippage’ From Celtics In This Very Important Area

BOSTON -- The Celtics are one of the better defensive teams in the NBA, owning the third-best defensive rating in the league.

But it didn't look that way at points in Boston's 125-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

The Celtics did hold the Hawks to just 23 third-quarter points, but weren't always locked in on the defense end, and it almost proved costly. Boston let up 37 points in the opening frame and got dangerously close to seeing a 10-point lead evaporate with under two minutes remaining.

The Hawks got whatever they wanted in those waning minutes with the Celtics taking their foot off the gas. Atlanta quickly cut the deficit in half and could have gotten within two if Saddiq Bey hadn't front-rimmed a wide open corner 3-pointer with 44.1 seconds remaining.

The defensive letdown isn't a cause for concern at the moment, but it's definitely on Al Horford's radar.

"Give the Hawks credit, they put a lot of pressure on you (defensively)," Horford said. "I felt like in the third we were better and then the last few minutes there in the fourth, to your point, we let go of the rope. As conscious as we were (of it), you're right, I think there is some slippage there."

The Hawks came into Boston as one of the hottest offensive teams in the league, having scored over 140 points in their last two games. Holding them well below that mark is a positive for the Celtics while also bottling up Trae Young to 20 points on an inefficient 8-for-25 shooting night. Boston also blocked nine shots, led by Horford's four swats.

But even with that, Horford sees room for improvement as the Celtics try to deliver a more consistent defensive performance the next time out against the Washington Wizards.

"It's something that we have to be better at," Horford said. "We'll have an opportunity obviously on Friday to come out and be better there. The Hawks, they have been playing very well and they put a lot of pressure defensively on us and they did that tonight. I felt like when we really needed to separate, we did that. We got some key stops and then our guys hit some big shots."