Al Horford described Thursday night as “definitely a weird feeling” after facing his former team in the Golden State Warriors’ 121-110 loss to the Boston Celtics at Chase Center.
The veteran big man, who came off the bench in the matchup, reflected on competing against a franchise where he previously played alongside several of the current Celtics.
“It’s definitely a weird feeling, going through that,” Horford said. “It was nice to see a lot of the guys, like I talked before, and getting to see the coaches and the staff.”
Once the game tipped off, the tone shifted.
“Once the game got going, it was all business and trying to do our best there,” he said.
Golden State fell to 29-26 and dropped to 6-11 this season without Stephen Curry, who remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Horford addressed the challenge of playing bigger lineups without the former MVP orchestrating the offense.
“I think the key with that is that defensively we have to be able to figure it out and be better,” he said. “I feel like we are capable of playing with two bigs, but we have to figure it out.”
He emphasized urgency while Curry recovers.
“We hope that Steph is back soon, but in the meantime, we have to find a way to figure it out because we have really good bigs,” Horford said.
Asked about the broader impact of Curry’s absence, Horford was direct.
“It’s a big difference. We can’t lie to ourselves,” he said. “He just does so much.”
Horford pointed beyond scoring to the structural effect Curry has on the offense.
“We see the scoring, we see the amazing plays, but then also the way that your offense runs and the things that he doesn’t get credit for,” he said. “Whether it’s assists, whether it’s layups, a lot of things open up for the rest of us.”
He summed it up clearly.
“It’s a huge gap. It’s night and day completely how we are with and without him,” Horford said.
Boston improved to 35-19 behind Jaylen Brown’s 23-point, 15-rebound, 13-assist triple-double, and Horford detailed why the Celtics remain difficult to guard.
“The way that Mazzulla has everybody and with that offense, they really do a good job of spreading you out,” he said. “They pack it up with shooters all around in the perimeter.”
He noted how ball movement stresses the defense.
“When you get good looks like that and you get the defense moving, it puts a lot of pressure,” Horford said. “They got to the paint and then kicked it out and got us in rotation, and all the guys were ready to shoot.”
Horford also evaluated Kristaps Porzingis, who made his Warriors debut with 12 points in 17 minutes against his former club.
“I was encouraged with him about him getting to his spots, being aggressive when he could,” Horford said. “He can score the ball. We know that.”
He expects the 7-footer to regain form with time.
“He’ll continue to progress and get his legs more underneath him and be able to play some more, and then we’ll see the real KP,” Horford said. “But for a first game after being out for so long, I think he did a really good job.”
