BOSTON -- In watching the Boston Celtics play, it’s pretty obvious how much better they are this season with the addition of Al Horford.
But what’s often lost in the discussion about Horford and his play is its impact on those around him.
Simply put, Horford’s teams play a better brand of basketball with him in the mix.
And since he has been in Boston, there have been nothing but positive vibes around Horford, and a lot of positive statistics to back that up.
Not surprisingly, Horford has the best plus/minus of any Celtic (+64) during the preseason. Even more impressive is the plus/minus of the rest of the team’s starting five.
Behind Horford you find Jae Crowder (+57), followed by Avery Bradley (+52), Amir Johnson (+43) and Isaiah Thomas (+39).
Making the numbers even more eye-popping: They have come about despite all of Boston’s starters seeing limited playing time in the preseason that, more often than not, ends with them on the bench for the entire second half.
“He’s a rock,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, a former assistant with the Atlanta Hawks when Horford played for them. “He’s the guy for all those young guys, watch how he works and approaches the game and how serious he is about it. He’s one of the top players in our league. He doesn’t let up.”
Here are some more statistical nuggets to munch on about three Celtics who should be key performers in tonight’s game.
Terry Rozier: The second-year guard will see an increase in minutes this season, but how much remains to be seen. One thing we do know: he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes in the minutes he has to work with. During the preseason, Rozier has played a total of 104 minutes with only four turnovers total.
Jaylen Brown: Brad Stevens has talked about throwing Brown to the wolves of the NBA with lots of playing time early. Brown isn’t just playing a lot of minutes for a first-year player in the preseason. He has actually played more total minutes (136) than any other Celtic player. You can’t talk about Brown and not get into a discussion about his athleticism which allows him to be effective at playing passing lanes which has enabled him to tally at least one steal in every preseason game thus far.
Marcus Smart: Only Jaylen Brown (136 minutes) has played more minutes in the preseason than, Smart who has logged 126 total minutes. While there are some fans who are looking for Smart to have some kind of breakout season, he has still done enough in his first two seasons to rank among the better players from his 2014 NBA draft class. In fact, Smart is just one of two players (Orlando’s Elfrid Payton being the other) who has career averages of 8-plus points, 3-plus rebounds and 3-plus assists per game.