It's Taken Al Horford 15 Years to Reach the NBA Finals; He's Wasting No Time Maximizing His Opportunity

Al Horford scored a team-high 26 points, leading the Celtics to a win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

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In college, Al Horford won back-to-back national championships with the Florida Gators. At the game's highest level, he's waited far longer just for the opportunity to be the last team left standing.

When Horford's Hawks won 60 games, then got swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015; when the Celtics went from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to imploding with them back in the fold. And when his career was at its lowest, unable to make it work on a cramped floor with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, then biding his time in Oklahoma City, Horford had to maintain faith and work towards an opportunity that seemed like it was never coming.

Now, back with Boston, serving as a steadying force throughout the Celtics' playoff run, Horford's wasting no time maximizing his opportunity on the NBA's brightest stage.

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Horford led Boston in scoring in Game 1 of the Finals, generating 26 points, shooting 9/12 from the field, including 6/8 from beyond the arc. Eleven of his points came in the Celtics' fourth-quarter comeback, and with the score knotted at 103, he produced back-to-back threes and a baseline jumper, an 8-0 run that gave Boston the lead and some cushion in the final stages.

After the win, Horford attributed his performance to "the way we were moving the ball on offense and just being in those positions. I felt like the guys kept finding me time after time."

Jaylen Brown, who scored 24 points in Game 1, said of the lift the Celtics got from their veteran leader putting 26 points on the board: "Phenomenal. That's what we need. That's what we want. We want that veteran leadership to carry us over."

Brown added: He came out in his first Finals game, and he played amazing. He carried us and led us to victory."

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Marcus Smart, who registered 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the win, expressed: "We were ecstatic for him. Al's the OG, man. He puts in the work. Don't nobody deserve to be here more than him.

"And the way that he carries himself professionally, the professionalism that he comes to this game with everyday, we knew that it was only a matter of time for him to have a big game and continue to have a big game. That's what he does, that's what he's been doing, and he's been that catalyst for us this whole year."

As for Horford, after all the years where he thought this opportunity might arrive but it didn't, he's "grateful for this opportunity. It's just going out there and playing basketball at the end of the day. Just grateful to be in this position. God has put me in this position. And I'm just excited to share the stage with this group of guys."

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Further Reading

Celtics, Jayson Tatum Discuss His Growth as a Facilitator After He Sets NBA Finals Record

Celtics' Resiliency on Display in Fourth Quarter of Game 1 of NBA Finals: 'We're battle-tested; we've been through a lot'

What Stood Out in Game 1 of the NBA Finals: Celtics' Take Series Opener with Fourth-Quarter Haymaker

Celtics' Owner Wyc Grousbeck Discusses Danny Ainge's Departure, Ime Udoka, Franchise's Five-Year Outlook

Tony Parker Sizes Up the NBA Finals, Talks Ime Udoka and His Collaboration with MTN Dew LEGEND

As the Calls to Separate Them Grew Louder, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Grew Closer: 'two young, extremely competitive guys that just really want to win at all costs'