The Celtics should be fine with Luka Doncic trying to attack Al Horford

In the waiting period before the NBA Finals, Boston Celtics center Al Horford celebrated his 38th birthday. For most, being a 38-year-old professional athlete basically equates to playing bingo at the senior center twice a week.

That isn’t the case for Horford, who remains as impactful as ever.

Throughout Boston’s run to the NBA Finals, the veteran big man took on an increased role while Kristaps Porzingis recovered from a soleus strain — and he thrived, including a 22-point performance in Game 5 against the Heat and hitting 7-of-12 from behind the arc in the Eastern Conference Finals.

He carried that momentum into Thursday’s Game 1 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, where not everyone was aware that Horford’s age is just a number.

The first bucket of the game was a loud slam from Big Al. He used a pump fake to drive past Daniel Gafford on the baseline as Luka Doncic made the business decision not to jump with him.

You think the athletic play would’ve been a hint that he’s still got quite a bit left in the tank, but it was not. Instead, Doncic fell in love with the idea of trying to attack Horford on the defensive end. He’d consistently call for screens in an effort to get the big man in a switch.

It just didn’t work out.

According to the NBA’s tracking for defensive matchups, Horford held Doncic to just two points on 1-of-8 from the field and 0-4 from deep.

It sounds simple, but Horford’s ability to stay with the All-NBA guard is priceless. It essentially allows the Celtics to roll out a lineup with no defensive weaknesses and feel confident running a switch-everything gameplan. This is especially important when playing the Mavericks.

Dallas loves to hunt mismatches and exploit defensive liabilities. It’s how they dismantled the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Doncic or Kyrie Irving would use screens to force Rudy Gobert out onto the perimeter, then take advantage of the Defensive Player of the Year’s limited quickness.

Just look at Luka’s Game 2 dagger as an example.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very possible that something like this could happen with Horford as the defender due to Doncic’s sheer talent. But, Game 1 — much like the rest of the playoffs — showcased Al’s mobility and discipline on defense.

This sort of performance shouldn’t come as a surprise either, Horford had plenty of practice switching onto speedy guards during Boston’s run to the Finals. Players like Tyler Herro, Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Haliburton, and Andrew Nembhard attacked him with limited success.

I’ll forever have the memory of Garland repeatedly failing to capitalize on the “mismatch” in Boston’s closeout Game 5 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Round 2. Horford blocked him three times in the win and had Garland so worn down that his legs gave out while trying to blow by him.

Now, it doesn’t remotely mean he’s less skilled or easier to defend, but Doncic doesn’t have the same quickness as those other guards do. He’s a tremendous player and uses excellent footwork as well as his strength to create great looks for himself and his teammates. He just can’t try and target Horford in the same way that he does with other centers because Al has better footwork than most bigs in the league.

Things could change over the course of the series. For now, I’m sure the Celtics will be just fine with Doncic trying to attack Horford in switches.