On June 18, 2021, Stevens completed his first deal as Celtics president, sending Kemba Walker and 2021 first-round picks and 2025 second-round picks to the Thunder, getting Horford.
The operation was seen at the time as a way for the Green Army to release the salary pressure, Horford's contract has two years left, only 55% of the salary for the 2022-23 season is guaranteed, and if the Green Army reaches the finals, the guarantee ratio rises to 75%, and winning the championship will become full payment.
Considering the Greens' exit from the first round last season, Stevens' exchange for Horford appears to be primarily financial considerations.
However, Stevens disagreed with this statement. 'He's the player we need, can play in different positions, defend different players, can pull away space on the offensive end and can pass the ball. Stevens said.
Stevens was right.
In the fourth game of the series between the Green Army and the Bucks, Horford played 42 minutes, 5 of 7 of 11 three-pointers on 14 shooting, and scored 30 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, setting a new single-game score and three-pointer high in the playoff career, leading the Green Army to reverse 11 points to win 116-108, chasing the series total score to 2-2.
Horford did just that, 25 days before his 36th birthday, and the oldest detective was the second-oldest player in Celtics history to playoff 30+ in a single game, second only to the team's all-time star Havlicek.
Playing the Bucks is hard because of their defensive characteristics. At the end of the first three games of the second round, the Bucks lost 30 points per game in the playoffs this season, the only team in the playoffs to have less than 35 points, and their squat defense went to the next level in the second round, with an average of 25.3 points lost in the penalty area in the first three games of the series, and the other seven teams that played in the East and West semifinals, the closest to the Bucks in terms of box defense was the Suns, who lost 39.5 points per game in the box, 14.2 points more than the Bucks.
Refine the Bucks' defensive data, they will control the Green Army's shooting rate in the reasonable collision zone at 53% in the first three games of the second round, the only one of the eight teams in the second round is below 60%, and the green army shooting rate outside the reasonable collision zone in the three seconds zone will be suppressed to 20%, which is also the first in the second round.
Bucks coach Budenholzer's defensive system is like a math problem, he is calculating the defensive force on the inside line, giving some mid-range and three-point opportunities to win and lose, as long as the difference between gains and losses is positive, the Bucks have a high probability of winning the game.
This kind of basketball math problem, the essence is the relationship between the measurement and the variable, the body size condition is the measurement, the medium and long distance projection is the variable, the Bucks hold the measurement to stabilize the basic set, and bet that the green army's shooting variables outside the penalty area are unstable.
The Green Army bullied the Nets with their size in the first round, but they could not take advantage of the Bucks in the second round of physical confrontation, and the Green Army wanted to grab the initiative, and there were two aspects of work to be done, one was to fill their variables as much as possible, and the other was to disrupt the measurement of the Bucks.
That's how the Greens won in Game 2 of the series, shooting a team-record 20 three-pointers in the history of the playoffs, giving the Bucks a defensive response, while giving Alphabet Brother a 2-of-12 half-time with a chain-style one-link defense.
Throw the ball in, as far as possible to create trouble for the letter brother, these are the key to the victory of the Green Army, it is simple to say, it is difficult to do, who can attack and defend the green army with one hard letter?
Horford can!
In the third game, Horford has shown a struggling savior-level performance, contributing 22 points, 16 rebounds and 5 assists, and 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Although he lost game three, Horford has shown the momentum of tearing apart the Bucks defense, and his offensive style corresponds to the part given by the Bucks defense, mid-range and three-pointers, and his defense takes the letters to consume.
Those factors failed to translate into victory in the third, but finally tied to the win in the fourth.
The ball Green Army was quite passive, trailing by 10 points in the opening 9 minutes, the Bucks' body size advantage was still obvious, rebounds won 10 Green Army, rebounds in front of the court grabbed 9 more, the second offense scored 12-5, and only the alphabet brother scored 22 points in the penalty area in terms of attacking the basket.
The Green Army still can't fight the Bucks, the win depends on The Rouge, expanding the technical flow of play to the full grid, Horford brought such an opportunity to the Green Army, his offensive arsenal inventory is very rich, and it is precisely the loophole in the Bucks' defense.
When Horford participated in the blocking, he easily did not go inside to hit the Bucks' tower defense line, but dismantled to the outside line to meet, the Bucks defense demolition or block the box to give three points, Horford handed over his response ball.
At the end of the first three quarters, Horford scored 14 points, 3 of 5 three-pointers, which has begun to shake the Bucks' defensive strategy, but they still try to stick to the inside and then outside, such as Tatum's rush to the basket in the fourth quarter, the Bucks formed a circle under the basket, the bottom corner leaked clean, this is the test of whether Horford can grasp the variable of long-range shooting, and this time the Bucks bet lost.
In addition to the three-pointer, Horford also has the ability to punish defense from mid-range in the free throw line area, and the Bucks' defense will shrink the defense line with full force as long as someone breaks in, and there will be a defensive blank area between the three-second zone and the top of the arc, and Horford has very cleverly grasped this area.
Horford's blocking also has a cover-up and down-and-down cooperation, but he generally does not go deep into the reasonable collision zone, but steps into the paint area to end one step, playing the Habit of the Bucks defending and retreating to the bottom line.
The Bucks' defense is to give the opponent a multiple choice question, do you rush to the basket, or shoot at the long distance, and Horford's return shot back gives the Bucks a multiple choice question, do you continue to stick to the box, or do you pounce out to block?
Alphabet brother chose to save this time, Horford shook a false shot to pretend to shoot long-range, one step over the letter, under the basket to dunk a personal back to the horse flip.
In this series against the Bucks, Horford's tactical value is higher than the first round, because the Green Army played the Nets directly in size, but the Bucks had to be used to play with a cleverness. Horford can be an offensive diversion point, with him on the court, the Green Army can use a large and four small lineup to correspond to the Bucks' defense, maximize the space effect, and create conditions for the basket within their reach, although the Green Army's score in this restricted area is still lower than the Bucks, but the gain of 48 points is a great improvement from the previous three games of 25.3 points per game, of which in the fourth quarter after the Green Army posed a big four small, the penalty area scored 22-16 single quarter and won the Bucks 6 points.
Horford is not only a diversion point, but also an endpoint, he scored 16 points on 2-of-2 three-pointers from 6 from 6 in the fourth quarter, while Alphabet Brother scored 6 points on 3-of-7 shooting in the quarter, and Horford won the letter 10 points in the key quarter, which directly determines the outcome of the game.
Horford's value is not only on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end, he is the core force of the Green Army's anti-alphabet armor, in the series of 4 games, Horford's defensive alphabet brother, the "Greek Monsters" 49 shots 15, shooting only 30.6%, other Green Army players in the position, the alphabet brother's data is 65 shots 35, shooting 54%.
The offensive end makes the Bucks embarrassed, and the defensive end of the single soldier fights to reduce the efficiency of the letters, such a 36-year-old veteran who does not love it.
In series 2-2, the two teams will fight against Tennozan. After the second game of the alphabet brother lost, the third game gave 42 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists of the attack and defense of the giant star output, the letter of the King Mountain Battle may be another version of the mythical beast, Horford's challenge will continue.