Al Horford turned back the clock as the Celtics closed out the Cavaliers in Game 5
After a rough start to the series, 37-year-old Al Horford came up huge for the Boston Celtics as they closed out the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
It wasn’t officially Turn Back The Clock Night at TD Garden on Wednesday, but it may as well have been. In their Game 5 matchup, the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers both got star performances from the oldest players on their rosters, who primarily operate as role players rather than leading scorers.
For Cleveland, the breakout came from 34-year-old former Celtic Marcus Morris. Just a few months ago Morris was a buyout player after getting traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the San Antonio Spurs, before signing with the Cavs. He played just 12 games for Cleveland during the regular season and already had a couple of ‘DNP’s this playoffs, including in Game 4 of this series.
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Injuries forced Cleveland to turn to Morris in Game 5, and he delivered. He scored 25 points (one shy of his playoff career high and the most he’s scored in a game since 2022), tied with Jayson Tatum for the second most in the game behind Evan Mobley’s 33. Morris shot 10-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-6 from deep.
For a while, it looked like Morris’ improbable breakout was going to be the deciding factor in this game. And it likely would have been if the Celtics didn’t get a veteran boost of their own.
Enter 37-year-old Al Horford.

To truly understand the context of Horford’s performance though, we have to go back. Earlier in this series, especially in Games 3 and 4 in Cleveland, he struggled. Horford was forced into a bigger role with more minutes due to the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, and that workload seemed to be taking its toll. There were calls to lessen his minutes in Game 5, in some cases significantly.
Good thing the Celtics didn’t. Horford rose to the occasion in a big way. He finished second on the team with 22 points, and shot 8-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-13 from deep. That’s after he shot a combined 11-of-32 from the floor and 4-of-22 from deep over the first four games.
Horford did more than put the ball in the hoop though. He finished with a game-high 15 rebounds, 12 of which came in the second half. In the fourth quarter he single-handedly out-rebounded Cleveland 9-3, including four offensive rebounds. He also added five assists, and three blocks.
Throughout the game Horford also clearly played a key leadership role. Multiple times he was visibly animated in the Celtics’ huddle, while being a steadying presence during game action.

“Everybody’s a leader on the team in a different way. And Al leads instrumentally. Not much of a talker,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game on Wednesday night. “Tonight you saw his gift. His gift is just passion, inspiration, toughness, competitive nature.”
“I thought that he started it for us, and all the guys responded well,” Mazzulla continued.
“The one play in particular when he saved the ball out of bounds, the last two minutes of the second quarter, it just gave us that extra possession, it pumped the crowd up, pumped our team up,” Tatum noted after the game. “Those plays – that was so meaningful. Just how he played in the second half on the defensive end, he knocked down big shots time and time again. His performance, his energy, his leadership tonight was crucial.”
“I give Al a lot of credit, how he’s transitioned and adapted his game to still play a major role and have a huge impact,” Tatum added, looking at the bigger picture.
With his stat line, Horford became the first player in NBA playoff history to record at least 10 rebounds, five three-pointers, five assists, and three blocks in a single game. For 37-year-olds with a 25/15/5 playoff game, Horford joins just LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
For Horford though, that’s all secondary.
“It feels great because we won. So, that’s the only satisfaction I get out of it,” he replied when read those stats after the game. “You can have a game like that, and if you don’t get it done – but I’m happy because I was able to help the team win this game.”

When asked about what he brought from a leadership angle, Horford again took a team approach.
“I feel like I said a lot of stuff, so I can’t remember,” he said when asked about one timeout during which he appeared particularly animated. “It was probably along the lines of ‘we have to continue the intensity defensively, we have to play hard.’ We all wanted this so bad. I’m just happy that we were able to take advantage of this. In the past, we’ve been in this position and haven’t been able to close things, and this is a sign of growth for our group. So I’m very proud of that.”
While Kristaps Porzingis’ status remains unknown as he works his way back from a calf injury (he hasn’t played since Game 4 of the first round), Horford’s role remains fluid. If Porzingis can’t go for the start of the ECF, Horford will likely continue to see extended minutes. Once he does return, it’s very possible Horford’s role shrinks once again. Prior to Porzingis getting hurt, he was playing about 24 minutes per game in the playoffs coming off the bench. He’s since started every game.
Whether or not Porzingis returns to the lineup for Game 1 of the ECF will be a key question in the coming days. The Celtics should have some extended time off before they return to the court. Keep scrolling for a look at what will determine the Eastern Conference Finals schedule in the coming days…