NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 6, 2024

Al Horford

Boston Celtics

Game 1: Postgame

Boston Celtics 107, Dallas Mavericks 89

Q: How good did that win feel and what did you like about what you did tonight?

AL HORFORD: It felt good. I think the whole key for us was to come out and defend home court and establish ourselves and we did that.

Q. Defensively how were you guys able to hold them under 90 points? Just nine assists.

AL HORFORD: Everyone was really locked in on the defensive end. The things that we needed to do, we just wanted to be very solid throughout. KP got to an unbelievable place there early in the first half, in the first quarter, and I just felt like it really got us going and took us to another level as a team. That was huge for us.

Q. How was it working him back in?

AL HORFORD: It was great. I was pleasantly surprised to see how good he looked. He was very fluid and a lot of energy and moving well. We know he can score, but defensively he looked really good as well.

Q. When did you find out he was going to be coming off the bench?

AL HORFORD: I mean, we’ve kind of known. At the end of the day for us, we understood what the mission was in front of us and what we needed to do. Everyone here was on board.