NBA Reveals Al Horford News on Tuesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 12:15 AM ET

The Boston Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic from the NBA playoffs in Game 5 of their first-round series on Tuesday, and in doing so, they have taken a step toward repeating as world champions.

If they do win it all again, one reason will be the improvement of their bench, which was a relative weakness last season.

With Jrue Holiday out of action in Game 5, veteran big man Al Horford moved into head coach Joe Mazzulla's starting lineup, and he had nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

In doing so, he moved into 17th place on the NBA's list of career rebounds in the playoffs with 1,528, surpassing Paul Silas' 1,527. Immediately above him on the list is Kevin Garnett, with 1,534.

Congrats to @Al_Horford of the @celtics for moving up to 17th all-time in playoff rebounds!#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google pic.twitter.com/OPO7qDvUdo
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2025

In his fourth season with the Celtics, Horford has continued to be a valuable utility man for them, whether he has started or come off the bench.

Partly due to Kristaps Porzingis' perpetual injury problems, Horford started 42 of his 60 games in the regular season, and he started in the last four games of the series versus Orlando.

Even though he's 38 years of age, he's still an effective rebounder and defender, not to mention a potent 3-point shooter and a good passer. He averaged 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks a game during the regular season.

Boston will now move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where it will face either the New York Knicks or the Detroit Pistons.

The Knicks currently lead their best-of-seven series against the Pistons, three games to one, coming into Tuesday, but Detroit took Game 5 at Madison Square Garden by a final score of 106-103.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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