SOUND OFF: Ageless Al Horford Leads Celtics to Third Straight Eastern Conference Finals

Sound off with us on Al Horford and Jayson Tatum leading the Celtics to their third straight Eastern Conference Finals after the duo picked apart the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game 5 at TD Garden. We dive in on their performances, the Celtics proving that they’re killers and on whether or not Boston deserves criticism after this win. We also explain the scenarios of when the Eastern Conference Finals will tip off, either against the New York Knicks or the Indiana Pacers.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Undo the most on the Boston Celtics punching their ticket
into the Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight season
and the sixth time in the last eight years. Take
a moment to let that sink in. This is like
Lebron James type dominance. There was a stretch when Lebron
went to eight straight NBA Finals, and I understand this

(00:29):
isn't quite on that level, but it's pretty damn close.
What the Celtics have accompassed during the stretch is incredible.
Six Eastern Conference Finals in eight years, built around a
bunch of young guys, especially Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown
being at the forefront of that. When these guys just
came into the league, and they just continue to get

(00:53):
to the conference finals at the very least basically every
single year. And I don't care who they played against
this season, I don't care who they're going to play
against in the future in the Eastern Conference Finals. Getting
there is an accomplishment, and this team basically does it
every single year. And now they've got a chance to

(01:16):
take on either the New York Knicks or the Indiana
Pacers with a berth into the NBA Finals. On the line.
But before we get into all that, let's talk about
tonight's game. This wasn't easy, right Like, Cleveland was missing
three of its top players. Donovan Mitchell was out, Jared
Allen was out, Karris LeVert was out, and we all

(01:40):
know how these games usually go. Sometimes these are the
most difficult games for any team to win. I know
Celtics fans have seen this happen time and time again,
but this happens around the league. When opposing teams are
missing a bunch of really good players, that's a tough
game to win. And it's not necessarily because the Celtics

(02:00):
in this case would not take the game seriously. They did.
They played pretty well tonight, but it's about how the
other team plays and so many guys outperforming expectations, and
that's what happened tonight. The Cavs had nothing to lose.
They played completely free because there were no expectations, and

(02:23):
all of a sudden, you've got Marcus Morris Senior coming
off the bench and out of the woodwork to look
like he was on the twenty eighteen Celtics again in
the postseason, scored a season high twenty five points. He
was awesome, so Take Donovan Mitchell out. Take Jared Allen out,
Take Carris Lavert out. Insert these other guys who might

(02:43):
have played better than them. Okay, and Marcus Moore Senior
was one of them. He was excellent tonight, twenty five
points again, a season high. And then Evan Mobley excellent again.
This was probably his best Perfonemans as a cav and
really in his professional career in the postseason, thirty three

(03:07):
points on twenty four shots. He was the guy who
everyone was talking about a couple of seasons ago as
the next big thing in the NBA, someone who can
do everything. He was that tonight. Yet still, despite that,
the Celtics still controlled the majority of this game. They

(03:29):
led for the entirety of the second half. All five
of their starters scored between eleven and twenty five points
balance across the board. Al Horford was unbelievable, We're going
to talk about him more later in this episode. And
still Boston found a way to domin particularly its starters

(03:51):
dominated this game, controlled this game, particularly during the second half,
despite the Cleveland Cavaliers outperforming expectations, and that's a keyword here,
expectations Because so many people outside of Boston's locker room

(04:12):
go into every game with certain expectations. Tonight it was
that the Celtics should win this game by thirty because
Cleveland was missing a few key players. But it's not
that easy. And this is why Joe Missoula has preached
time and time again to this Celtics team heading into
these playoffs and now during these playoffs not to have

(04:35):
expectations because then if things don't go as you expected,
it starts to creep into your mind and then there
can be a trickle down effect into other games or
into other key moments. Everyone outside the locker room can
have that mindset, have at it, have those expectations. All

(04:56):
it's going to do is drive you crazy. But the
players in the t in that locker room are not
doing that, and that is why they have been so
darn good during this postseason eight and two, with I
believe all but two of those victories coming by thirteen
or more points. So a great game from the Celtics

(05:20):
to close this out. And what really stands out to
me about this game is that the Celtics have now
had two opportunities to close out series in this postseason.
They are now two for two in those situations. This
is a big deal. I don't think I need to
remind everyone listening to this right now about Boston struggles

(05:43):
in these scenarios. In the past, it has just seemed
like they could never close a team out until they
absolutely needed to, like backs were against the wall and
they needed to close the series out. That's what it
felt like in the past few postseasons. But I've said

(06:08):
it all season long, and I'm gonna say it again
right now. This team is different than those other teams.
This team has shown time and time again that many
of those troublesome characteristics that we've seen in past seasons,
those traits that drove us all crazy, those no longer

(06:29):
exist this team. This team flushed that latest one right
down the toilet. This team doesn't play with its food
when it's got a chance to close out an opponent.
This team sees and smells when blood is in the water,
and it attacks. Now they've stepped down their opponent's throat

(06:52):
two times in two chances and closed out those series
with double digit wins in the very first opportunity they
had to do. So. These guys are killers. And on
that note, can we talk about Jason Tatum real quick, please,
All the early talk in this series was about Jason

(07:12):
Tatum shooting struggles. Do you remember, because I remember every
talk show on the radio, every talk show on TV.
Jason Tatum is struggling. Jason Tatum is shooting so poorly,
Jason Tatum can't find his rhythm. Does everyone understand this
guy is a bona fide superstar. He's not gonna struggle

(07:33):
for an entire postseason. Where are his flowers? Now? The
guy just averaged thirty points a game where the final
three games of this series as Boston ran away, closed
this out and shut the door on Cleveland season. Tonight,
he drops twenty five points to go along with ten rebounds,

(07:56):
nine assists in four steals. And I'm gonna note this
as well, only one turnover. Twenty five points, ten rebounds,
nine to sister, four steals in only one turnover. People
were digging for something to talk about when it came

(08:17):
to Jason Tatum. Honestly, that's what people have been doing
all season long about these Celtics, Digging and digging and
digging and trying to find something negative to say about them. Well,
guess what now? The Boston Celtics are seventy two and
twenty ridiculous. Jason Tatum just averaged thirty a game for

(08:41):
the last three as his team ended another team season.
People went digging, they found nothing, and here's Jason Tatum
dominating during another four to one series lead. The guy

(09:01):
is a superstar, point blank period. End of story. All right,
let's dive into tonight's comments from Celtics Nation. First off,
we've got kb Jong with some criticism of the win.
Then Tyray, my good friend calls us out every Friday.
We appreciate you, Tye. He jumps in to comment on

(09:23):
Al Horford's unbelievable performance. Then we've got LTD Garden talking
about how mentally tough this win was for the Celtics.
And then lastly we're going with four tonight Michael ocon
ninety rounds us out with a look forward to the
Eastern Conference Finals. All right, let's go. All right. Kbjong
got a little criticism of this win that the Celtics

(09:46):
took home by fifteen points. Here it is Kbjeong says,
I know they won and by a big margin, but
it was a very frustrating game to watch. It's like
they were just messing around and not taking the seriously.
Then he's gotten emoji of a man with his hands up. KB.
I appreciate you and your honesty about how you felt

(10:09):
during this game. I've got to tell you that I
disagree completely. There was not a moment in this game
that I thought the Boston Celtics were just playing as
if they were messing around and not taking the game seriously.
We could agree to disagree, but I did not have
a single moment where I felt that way. Were there

(10:35):
moments where the Celtics would have made better decisions, Yeah,
that happens every night. But did they not give effort?
Did they not play hard? Did they not act as
if this was an important game? I didn't feel that way.
I felt that they played pretty damn well. And in fact,
you look at the box score, it supports that fifty

(10:59):
three from the field, forty four percent from three ten
of twelve from the free throw line. They crushed, and
I mean crushed Cleveland on the glass forty three to
twenty eight. They dissed out thirty two assists on forty
two made baskets, grab six steals, block six shots. What

(11:23):
are you talking about? How can you see these numbers
and watch a game where these numbers were compiled and
possibly think that a team was just messing around. Are
they really that good where they can just mess around
and put up those numbers? Absolutely one hundred percent dominant numbers. KB, Again,

(11:54):
I appreciate you being honest. I appreciate you being a
part of this conversation, but I just completely disagree. I
do not think the Celtics were messing around tonight. I
don't think that they didn't take this game seriously. I
think they took it very seriously. And Al Horford said
as much. After this game. He said, and I quote here,
we all wanted this so bad and I'm just happy

(12:17):
we were able to take advantage of this. This team
did not take this game lightly. This team came out
and wanted to win, and they played like they wanted
to win in Cleveland. Just so happened to have a
couple guys go off. That happens. This is the NBA
Celtics can't control. If Marcus Morris goes nuts and drains

(12:39):
a bunch of shots from long distance that he never
makes sets a new season high. Were there some moments
where the Celtics could have defended better especially against Devan Mobley. Absolutely,
this was not a perfect game, but the Celtics played
pretty darn good basketball. And as I just rattled those

(13:01):
numbers off, everything supports that everything. Celtics had a chance
to close this series. They snatched it and they shut
the door and now they're moving on to the next round.
I appreciate you Kbjong not talking down on you, man.

(13:21):
I appreciate you being a part of this. We're allowed
to disagree, all right. Next up, our good friend Ty
Ray says al Al Al, let's give the man as
flowers and boy do we have to do it. After
tonight's game, Al Horford, this was a throwback performance, a
historical performance. Twenty two points, fifteen rebounds, five assists, three

(13:45):
block shots and a steal, while setting a new career
high in both three point makes with six and three
point attempts with thirteen. Just a sick performance by Al Horford.
Where did he come from with this? He's been struggling
from three. They were talking about it on TNT. I
had both broadcasts on. I heard TNT talking about Horford.

(14:07):
I think he had missed his prior twelve to three pointers. Well,
tonight he looked pretty good. Six of thirteen from long
range set the tone for Boston's offense. Also a game
high fifteen rebounds. That's more than double any player on
the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was everywhere. Energy plays, effort plays,

(14:37):
smart plays, efficient plays. He did it all at both
ends of the court. Did he have a couple ugly turnovers, Yep,
it happens. It happens. The good far outweighed the bad,
not even close. Al Horford tonight became the first player,

(15:00):
I repeat, the first player in NBA history to log
the following numbers ten rebounds, five made threes, five assists,
and three blocks in a playoff game. The great Dick
Lipe of NBC Sports Boston sent this out after the game.

(15:21):
You can see it on my feet on X. Al
Horford is the only player in the history of NBA
playoff basketball with at least ten rebounds, five to three
point makes, five assists, in three blocks. Unbelievable, unbelievable performance
from Al Horford. He was the heart of this game,

(15:46):
no questions asked. He was awesome. He deserves his flowers.
As Tyree said in Man, if the Celtics can somehow
pull this off and win this NBA Championship. I'm gonna
say it right here, Al Horford punches his ticket into

(16:08):
the Basketball Hall of Fame. If Boston wins wins this
year's championship, mark it down. He deserves it. He deserves
all the flowers, as Tyree said, especially after this incredible
performance tonight in a closeout game at home, getting his
fans jacked up for the Eastern Conference finals that are

(16:31):
gonna start sometime next week. Thank you, Tyra. Appreciate you man,
all right. LTD Garden is up next, saying they played
through slumps, made adjustments, brought more energy on d when
they needed stops. Not the prettiest win, but a mentally
tough victory, a glass half full comment. I appreciate this,

(16:52):
and it's true. Like, I'm not trying to claim that
the Boston Celtics played a perfect basketball game tonight. They
did not. If they did, they want to would have
won by forty and everyone out there would have been happy.
But those aren't the expectations. Okay. They had some struggles,
particularly defensively. They had some stretches on offense where the

(17:13):
ball wasn't quite popping the way that it normally does.
They had some slumps, but they adjusted, they bounce back defensively,
as LTD Garden is saying here, they got the stouts
when they needed to. They brought that extra energy to
close this game out. Again, not the prettiest win, as

(17:33):
LTD Garden is saying, but a mentally tough victory. And
sometimes those victories are actually more important than the beautiful
wins where the team cruises away for a thirty point victory.
Sometimes these ones are the ones that matter more because
these are the ones that build character. These are the

(17:54):
ones that you can lean on in the future of
this playoff run. As Okay, there's a few lessons that
we learned in that performance. Okay, we were close throughout
this game. Here's how we pulled away a little bit.
Here's how we stepped on their throats and ended this series.

(18:14):
Those are things that Boston can lean on moving forward.
Mentally tough. Would have been easy to fold. Would have
been easy to allow Cleveland to win this game and
had to go back to Cleveland for another game. Would
have been easy to do that, especially when he got
Marcus Morris going nuts. Having Mobley's keeping the calves in

(18:35):
the game, it would have been easy to let go
of the rope, but the Celtics didn't because they were
mentally tough. And again that is very, very very important
for the Celtics to be able to lean on that trait,
that characteristic as they move forward into what is certain

(18:55):
to be a much more challenging next round against either
the Pacers or the and then if Boston gets to
the finals against whoever comes out of the West, because
that's going to be a great team no matter who
that is, Boston can lean on these experiences as they
move forward. All Right, Our last comment of the night

(19:16):
coming in from Michael Oco ninety saying, happy to have
closed the series out tonight. It was expected. There's those
expectations I was talking about. Now we rest wait in
gear up for Indy or New York. The rest part
is the one that I want to concentrate on here,
especially for the guy who was the player of this

(19:38):
game in Al Horford. Al Horford's thirty eight. Okay, he's
been playing a lot of minutes while Christas Porzingis has
been out. The fact that the Celtics won this game
secures the fact that they will have at least Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday off before Game one of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The very earliest that the Eastern Conference Finals can start

(20:00):
is Sunday afternoon at three point thirty pm at TD Garden.
That is the earliest it can start. The only way
that will happen is if both New York and Denver
close out their series on Thursday and Friday night. If
either of those games go to seven games, Boston's Game
one of the Eastern Conference Finals will be on Tuesday

(20:22):
of next week. So do the math. We'll walk through
it right now. If the Eastern Conference Finals do start
on Sunday, Boston winds up getting three days of rest
because they close the door on Cleveland. And if the
Eastern Conference Finals don't start until next Tuesday, Boston gets
five days of rest before that Game one. So really,

(20:44):
this was important. The Celtics needed to win this game,
get their bodies right, get their rhythm right, possibly get
Christas Porzingis back in the lineup. Who knows if that
could happen for the first game of the next series,
but it's possible. You get this rest, you give yourself
an opportunity to get back to full health before taking

(21:06):
on a team that certainly, whoever it is, if it's
the Pacers or the Knicks. Both of those teams are
gonna be a little bit banged up, Okay. They've been
going through a grueling run of the playoffs so far, Okay,
So either way, this is a win win for the Celtics.
They get rest while their opponents still have to play
and again at least three days of rest and up

(21:27):
to five days of rest until Game one of the
Eastern Conference Finals that will take place at TD Garden. Again,
that game will happen either Sunday afternoon at three point thirty.
That will happen if both series, the Denver Series and
the New York series both end on Thursday and Friday,

(21:47):
Boston will host Game one on Sunday, But if either
of those series go to seven games, Eastern Conference Finals
Game one will be played Tuesday night at TD Garden.
So until then, keep it locked on the Celtics social annals.
We will have the latest from practice, all the media availabilities,
and we'll either see you Sunday or Tuesday after Game
one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Appreciate you sougning off

(22:10):
with me tonight. I can't wait to see you on
either Sunday go Tuesday