Al Horford still relishes the opportunity to guard the NBA’s best, even the ‘unpredictable’ Nikola Jokic

By Khari A.

Thompson There are plenty of players capable of going off for huge statistical nights in the NBA.

But, only a select few dominate the game as consistently and thoroughly as Nikola Jokic.

Some opposing coaches, including Joe Mazzulla accept that hes going to get his share of points, rebounds, and assists, regardless of what the strategy is.

Jokic scored 20 points, grabbed 14 boards, and dished out nine assists, finishing just shy of a triple-double at TD Garden on Sunday afternoon.

That was an off night by his standards.

We didnt talk anything about Jokic in the game plan, Mazzulla said.

Its not about him, its about controlling the other stuff that you can control.

Theyre one of the best teams in the league on cuts.

Can you take away all of their cuts? Can you take away their transition leak outs by not turning it over, but crashing the offensive glass? Can you try to keep them off the free-throw line? Can you win the minutes that hes not on the court? You dont really talk about him, in a game-plan you try to talk about all the other stuff that you can control.

But, theres still a person every night that has to go out and try to control the uncontrollable Jokic.

On Sunday night it was Horford , who still relishes the opportunity to test him self against the NBAs best at age 38.

I just like to compete.

It comes down to that, Horford said.

In Jokics case, in my opinion, hes probably a top player in our league right now.

Its just so much that he does.

Hes so difficult to defend because hes so unpredictable.

And really, what makes it worse is he plays the right way.

So, hes looking to make winning plays and somehow he still gets these crazy numbers, these crazy stats, he added.

When you go against a guy like that, its not me against him, its everybody has to really be synced in to what we do and what the game plan is.

I felt like our guys were tonight and they provided that help.

Horford brought energy from the opening tip, diving for loose balls, running the floor, and fighting the taller, heavier Jokic for position.

He played 35 minutes, which was a heavier-than-usual work load for this stage of his career.

Horford played 38 minutes in the previous game against the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers.

Again, if you take a look at his stats it doesnt always show what he does for us, most of what he does cant be measured, Mazzulla said.

He has the innate ability to impact the game in so many different ways and hes one of the best players in the league at guarding other best players in the league no matter the position that they have.

He was just elite tonight on the defensive end of the floor with his positioning, his communication, his physicality, his rebounding.

So, it was amazing to watch.

Jaylen Brown saw Horfords effort and make a point to look for him on the offensive end.

Horford chipped in 19 points, scoring all but one of his made field-goals in the paint.

We wanted to reward him for his work, so I was looking for Al early and was able to connect to him a few times, Brown said.

That final one in transition where he gets the tip, gets a hand, gets a deflection, sprints in transition, I see him funning, throw it back to the big fella.

Hes supposed to dunk that, but you know, hes got five kids so well let him slide.

Horford praised Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta for their help on the defensive end.

They did a good job feeling out when to step out to the perimeter and when to guard the paint, Horford said.

Horford set the tone with his energy and was able to slow Jokic down 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 on the defensive end, Horford said of his ability to hold his matchup with Jokic.

But, tonight, I needed the help.

Jokic, that dude is unreal, but yeah, for me to be able to handle the matchups and do that, I feel like it just unlocks our team.

We can do a lot of different things.

We can switch if we need to.

At the end we had to switch, I had to switch 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 recover we can do that as well.

So for me, its just that versatility that I have to do that and just in game being able to switch from one thing to another when its called.

Khari A.

Thompson Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com.

Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

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