Jaylen Brown Cracks Joke After Celtics Veteran Passes Up Dunk

BOSTON — Al Horford put the game away against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday with a bucket in transition.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown jokingly wished Horford had finished the play with more authority.

Horford started the play on the defensive end by deflecting a pass from Nuggets guard Jamal Murray with the Celtics clinging to a five-point lead with under a minute left. Brown then tipped the ball over to White, who took a couple of dribbles up the court before giving the ball back to Brown.

Brown then wanted to reward Horford for his hustle. He saw Horford sprinting up the floor from the baseline and laid it off to him, but instead of Horford flushing it, he secured the game-sealing basket with a soft layup.

“I was looking for Al early,” Brown said following Boston’s 110-103 win at TD Garden. “Was able to connect to him a few times. The final one in transition where he gets the deflection, sprints in transition, I see him running. Throw it back to the big fella. He’s supposed to dunk that, but he’s got five kids, so we let him slide.”

Horford did show early in the third quarter that he could still get up when he finished off a feed from Brown on the break with a dunk. It does feel that slams from Horford, who turns 39 in June, come few and far between now, though.

But the play discussed by Brown was a microcosm of Horford’s terrific performance against the Nuggets. The 18-year vet stepped up with Kristaps Porzingis out with an illness and turned back the clock to score 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and three steals. Horford played 35 minutes — it’s just the fifth time he’s hit that mark all season — and it was the most points he had scored in a game since Nov. 19.

Horford also turned in a stout defensive showing against Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, which Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla lauded.

And while Brown gave Horford a good-natured ribbing, Brown fully understands how important the veteran center is to the Celtics.

“Al is an ultimate team guy,” Brown said. “He’s a great connector for our unit. He does his job night in and night out. Anytime he’s on the floor, he stretches the floor, hits shots. So any time we can get an easy one to him — because he does all the dirty work on the other side. He had it rolling.”