Dominican Al Horford was satisfied this Thursday with the victory of the Boston Celtics and stressed that it was essential for his team to equalize the East final against the Miami Heat after their loss in the first game.
"They beat us in the first game and it was important for us to go out and get this victory no matter what it took"he stated in statements to the media after the duel.
With an overwhelming and incontestable victory, the Celtics tied the Eastern final 1-1 after destroying the Heat 102-127.
The Celtics had the reinforcements of Marcus Smart, who did not play in the first game due to a sprain; and from Horford himself, who did not play that match either for having entered the coronavirus protocol.
Smart was the soul of Boston with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists and Horford, who is playing at a very high level at 35 years old, contributed 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block.
The Dominican, who came out of the coronavirus protocol hours before playing the second game, admitted that he had gone through "uncertainty" and many emotions in the last days.
"In the end, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to play tonight and to be back with the team."said when mentioning that "the hardest" for him it was not helping his companions when he "they needed".
After entering the protocol hours before the first game, Horford was expected to miss several games until he met the requirements to exit the protocol.
However, the ESPN chain detailed this Thursday a possibility that he would have returned earlier than expected since, according to an NBA memorandum from last April 30, the league allows players to return to the field if they deliver two negative PCR straight on match day.
Regardless of the protocol, Horford was especially happy to have added in defense along with his teammates Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, all of them recovered from their physical problems.
"It felt good. That’s what our team is about"said.
"Udoka (the Celtics coach) has done a good job with us all year to establish an identity: who we want to be. And then we go out (to play) and we do it. And we enjoy doing it"he added.
The series now travels to Boston, where Game 3 will be played on Saturday.
Udoka’s weather
His team was down 10 points in the early going. Coach Ime Udoka made no secret of his disappointment, sending a simple message to the Celtics.
“Wake up!” he ordered them.
They heard it. The Eastern Conference finals are now tied and the Celtics will travel to Boston with home-court advantage in the series.
Jayson Tatum scored 27 points for a Celtics that looked overwhelming in the first half after the initial laziness and ended up beating the Miami Heat 127-102 on Thursday to even the series at one win a side.
Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown had 24 points apiece. Smart came within a rebound of a triple-double, adding 12 assists and nine rebounds.
“These guys have pride. They saw a golden opportunity that we kind of squandered (during the first match) and they thought we could do much better,” said Udoka. “And we did it tonight.”
Grant Williams scored 19 points for Boston, which used an unanswered 17-point drive late in the first quarter to take control of the game. That streak was fueled by five 3-pointers on six possessions.
Payton Pritchard and Al Horford each had 10 points for the Celtics.
“Today we had a lot of confidence,” explained Pritchard.
Jimmy Butler had 29 points in 32 minutes for Miami, which fell to 7-1 at home in these playoffs. Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo each had 14 points, while Tyler Herro added 11 for the Heat.
“It’s just one game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s something experienced players in the locker room and on our staff know. We don’t like it, but they played extremely well. There are two really good teams here and we will have to adjust some things.”
The Celtics, who are now 4-0 in post-loss games during these playoffs, took 20 shots from 3-point range, compared to 10 for Miami.
Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday in Boston.
“All losses are the same, it doesn’t matter if it’s by one point or by 20,” Vincent said. “We have to regroup, redraw the plans and be ready for the next game.”
