Arelis Reynoso had a vision for her baby boy, long before he was old enough to realize it for himself.

He would leave the Dominican Republic for the United States by the time he finished middle school, play high school basketball, star in college and then move on to a career in the NBA.

So what if he was only 7 years old.

"It's true," Reynoso, the mother of Hawks rookie center Al Horford, said. "Al knows I had a vision for his life and basketball. And I made sure he understood from an early age that anything he wanted in life he could have, if he was willing to work hard for it."

Horford has helped resuscitate a franchise. The Hawks face Boston tonight at Philips Arena in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series. If they win they'll go back to Boston to play a deciding Game 7 Sunday. A loss ends their season. But they've already ended a nine-year playoff drought.

"That has to be the most satisfying part of this entire season for me," Horford said. "Just knowing that we were able to get this team into the playoffs, that we reached that goal, makes this season even more special for all of us."

While Joe Johnson is the Hawks' All-Star and fiery Atlanta native Josh Smith its soul, Horford has quietly assumed the same leadership role with these Hawks that he occupied on back-to-back NCAA Championship teams at the University of Florida. Gators coach Billy Donovan nicknamed Horford "The Godfather" for the way he quietly commanded respect.

It's a moniker that still fits.

Horford, the runner-up for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, has been the unifying force for these Hawks.

"The biggest thing on my mind is I always want to win," Horford said. "And in order to do that you have to do different things. I know that teams have different personalities and attitudes, but I think it's important that I play a part in keeping everyone together and making sure we're on the same page."

No one is surprised that he's assumed so much responsibility so quickly.

"He's a winner," Hawks forward Marvin Williams said. "He's won back-to-back championships in college. And I don't care that it was college. That's still an astonishing accomplishment. So he's seen everything and understands the team dynamic and what it takes for a group of guys to come together and become a real team."

It was Horford, who is averaging 12.8 points and 11.2 rebounds in the playoffs, that provided the video inspiration that sparked the Hawks to a Game 3 win. It was a copy of the Academy Award winning documentary "When We Were Kings," the story of Muhammad Ali's upset of George Foreman for the heavyweight title.

It was Horford that guided Zaza Pachulia away from the fray when his backup and All-Star Kevin Garnett nearly came to blows during a fracas in Game 4.

And it was Horford flexing his muscles for the camera after a big basket in the same game.

"You don't find too many guys that are ahead of the game like he is as a rookie," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "It's surprising to me this guy has come into this thing and played the way he has and never gotten rattled by anything he's seen on or off the floor.

"He's always thinking ahead, and that's what winners do."

That's also what mothers with a vision do. They impart wisdom to their children, and in Reynoso's case, made sure that the son learned from the missteps of the father.

Horford's father Tito played three seasons in the NBA but never realized the career many thought the 7-foot center was destined for.

His mother, who was divorced from Horford's father with he was 3-years old, worked a journalist in the Dominican Republic, hosting her own sports talk show. She knew they could leave nothing to chance.

Sending Horford to live with his father in Michigan in high school was a plan years in the making. So too was everything that followed, the college stardom, being the third pick in last summer's NBA draft, the rookie season and now this surprising playoff run.

"It's funny," Horford said. "My mom and I used to talk about it when I was young. She said, 'When you get to the eighth grade we have to start think about sending you to high school in the states.' And she was like, 'I know you're going to play in the [NBA] and you're going to be great.' She used to say that all the time and I was like, 'Yeah.' I started to believe it.

"And it happened just like she said it would."

Like the vision the mother had for her son all those years ago.

"Al's always been a real visionary about his life and his future as well," said Reynoso, who lives blocks away from her son in Smyrna and manages his personal affairs while cooking all his meals. "He realized at a young age that he had a chance to make all his dreams come true if he did the right things and he's done exactly that."