While unhappy about the loss to the Jazz, Celtics’ Al Horford says it ‘was probably our best offensive game’
The Boston Celtics could have hardly played better defense than they did for much of their 137 – 130 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night, but the Jazz’ torrid start from deep ultimately put the Celtics so far behind the proverbial eight ball that they came up just short of the effort necessary to steal a win on Utah’s home court.
That they did it while scoring the most points on the Jazz as any team has in ages may have been a small silver lining for Boston, whose vaunted defense has been their main weapon while their offense had — until last night — not yet caught up to their abilities on the other end of the court.
“It was tough,” said veteran big man Al Horford to the press after the game.
The St. Louis native nearly carried the Celtics to the win. https://t.co/5ZGjq9ptqy
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 4, 2021
“No question about it, it’s tough,” he continued. “But, I feel like we gave ourselves a chance to win the game there.”
“Early on, they started out hot, and we got into them defensively a little bit, and I think that helped us a bit, but they just outpaced us. Obviously, you want to win the game, but offensively, we can look at it and take some positives from it — it was probably our best offensive game.”
“I think the pace that we were playing (helped) — coach really stressed that before the game — it was important for us to get out and run,” added Horford.
Some of the better moments from the game captured in images. https://t.co/DFZ6maQhtQ
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 4, 2021
In an ironic twist of fate, the Celtics may have indeed found the key to their offense in a loss where they faced the NBA’s top team in that regard, and in a game their elite defense kept them close long enough to do so.
Repeatability is of course the name of the game when it comes to success in this league. But, with players looking more comfortable in their respective roles for the most part than in any previous game this season, a firm foundation to build off of is there for the taking for Boston.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
This trio of trade targets make sense for the Celtics in the right deal, and could be on the move come December 15 onward. https://t.co/LeiABKVU0S
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 4, 2021
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