At the age of 38, Al Horford still enjoys the opportunity to protect NBA’s best

Celtics

The 38-year-old tips held his own in another Big Time Matchup.

There are plenty of players who are able to go out for huge statistical nights in the NBA.

But only a few selected dominate the game as consistently and thoroughly as Nikola Jokic. Some opposite coaches, including Joe Mazzulla, accept that he will get his share of points, rebounds and assists, no matter what the strategy is.

Jokic scored 20 points, grabbed 14 boards and released nine assists and just finished shyly for a triple double in TD Garden on Sunday afternoon. It was a off evening after his standards.

“We didn’t talk about Jokic in the game plan,” Mazzulla said. “It’s not about him, it’s about controlling the other things you can control.”

“They are one of the best teams in the league on cuts. Can you remove all their cuts? Can you remove their transition leakage by not turning it around but crashing the offensive glass? Can you try to keep them away from the Free Castle Line? Can you win the minutes he’s not on the field? You don’t really talk about him, in a game plan you try to talk about all the other things you can control. ”

But there is still a person every night who has to go out and try to control the uncontrollable Jokian. Sunday night it was Horfordwho still enjoys the opportunity to test himself against NBA’s best at the age of 38.

“I just like to compete. It comes down to it, ”Horford said. “In Jokic’s case, in my opinion, he is probably a top player in our league right now. It’s just so much that he does. He is so difficult to defend because he is so unpredictable. And really what makes it worse is that he plays the right way. “

“So he seems to win plays, and somehow he still gets these crazy numbers, these crazy statistics,” he added. “When you go against such a guy, it’s not me against him, everyone really has to sync in what we do and what the game plan is. I felt our guys were tonight and they gave that help. “

Horford brought energy from the opening tip, dived by loose bullets, drove the floor and fought against the higher, heavier Jokian for position.

He played 35 minutes, which was a heavier than usual workload for this phase of his career. Horford played 38 minutes in the previous match against the eastern conference -leading Cavaliers.

“Again, if you look at his statistics, it doesn’t always show what he does to us, most of what he does can’t be measured,” said Mazzulla. “He has the innate ability to influence the game in so many different ways, and he is one of the best players in the league by protecting other best players in the league regardless of the position they have.”

“He was just elite tonight on the defensive end of the floor with his positioning, his communication, his physical, his rebounding. So it was great to look at. “

Jaylen Brown Then Horford’s efforts and make a point to look for him at the offensive end. Horford tiled in 19 points and scored everyone except one of his manufactured field goals in the paint.

“We would reward him for his work, so I was looking for all early and was able to connect with him a few times,” Brown said. “The last in the transition where he gets the tip, gets a hand, gets a deflection, sprints in the transition, I see him fun, throw it back to the big fella. He should darken it, but you know he has five children, so we let him slip. ”

Horford praised Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta for their help to the defensive end. They did a good job of feeling when to go out to the perimeter and when to protect the paint, Horford said.

Horford set the tone with his energy and was able to slow down Jokic enough to make things difficult for the rest of the nuggets.

“I think it gives our team another layer of versatility, and it allows us to do more things at the defensive end,” Horford said of his ability to keep his matchup with Jokic. “But tonight I needed the help. Jokic, the guy is unreal, but yes, for me to handle matchups and do it, I feel like it just unlock our team. We can do a lot of different things.

“We can change if we need it. At the end we had to change, I had to turn on Jamal (Murray}. He hit a three, so after that I had to get up into him. So we changed the coverage. Or, if I have to stay on my matchup and get me, we can do it too. So for me it is just the versatility that I have to do it and just in the game that is able to change from one thing.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari College covered Football for Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.