Boston Celtics: 3 regular season goals for Al Horford in 2018-19

2. Finish top-five in Defensive Player of the Year Voting Again

Al Horford is a terrific low-post defender. His presence in the paint was very valuable for the Boston Celtics during the playoffs and was a big reason the Celtics made it as far as they did.

Last season, Horford finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting behind Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Paul George. Horford received one first-place vote, seven second-place votes, and 11 third-place votes from the 100 voters.

Horford will need to bring his defense again this season if the Celtics want to go far in the playoffs. Most strong teams in today’s league have at least one good offensive big-man, and Horford will need to match up well with them.

Defensive Player of the Year is a tough award to vote for, as there are not a lot of stats to base on and a lot of the judgment on player’s defensive skills must come from watching the actual game. The Dominican was a force defensively for the Celtics all season long, and I personally thought that he should have finished higher than fifth.

Getting in the top-five again should be a good goal for Horford and should be attainable.