Boston Celtics: The 5 players walking through that door in 2018
Al Horford is more than average
The star with the least hype going into the 2018-19 NBA season is Al Horford.
Coming off an All-Star season in which he scored 12.9 points and averaged 7.4 rebounds, Horford doesn’t have All-Star numbers, but he is an important player on this Boston Celtics team because of all the little things he does well.
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At 6-foot-10, 245 founds, the versatile big man gives head coach Brad Stevens many options. He can play down low against opposing big man and he can play the stretch forward role Stevens loves to have on the floor.
In a way, Horford is the glue that makes everything work both offensively and defensively. His ability to pass the ball from on top of the key opens the floor for Kyrie Irving and the wing players.
While Boston Celtics fans know the importance of Al Horford, Sports Illustrated does as well. They actually ranked Al Horford at No. 16 in the top 100 players ahead of the 2018-19 season. That is actually one spot ahead of Kyrie Irving.
What makes Horford the highest rated Celtics player according to SI?
"“Incredible two-way player,” SI’s Ben Golliver wrote. “Defensively everybody knows what he can do. He can anchor an elite defense, that’ what he did last season. He’s been doing that for years. Positional flexibility, he can guard multiple guys. If he gets switched out on the perimeter, he doesn’t get those crazy happy feet and get spun around in a circle, you know, doing the do-si-do. He’s very comfortable in terms of containing guards and a very flexible guy where you can’t pick on him in a playoff series with really anybody.”"
Related Story. Three regular season goals for Al Horford in 2018-19. light
Al Horford proved that in the 2018 playoffs, particularly the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers. It was his defensive efforts against Joel Embiid that allowed the Boston Celtics to out the 76ers in five games.