Al Horford chuckled when asked about taking a season-high 24 shots Wednesday night, and said that Jeff Teague (who was near enough to hear), “was getting me the ball” … and “and all the shots looked good so I kept taking them.”
Seriously, there was no joke about Horford’s 21 points and 13 rebounds.
There was a plan.
“The coaches told me to keep being aggressive,” he explained. “The way that the offense was set up, there were a lot of shots for me and I was just taking advantage of that and trying to be aggressive.”
In beating the Wizards 105-96, the Hawks (41-9) zeroed in on Washington’s game plan. The Wizards (31-19) wanted to limit Horford’s primary partner in the paint, forward Paul Millsap, and the ball found the Atlanta center so often that he attempted nearly twice his average of 12.4 shot attempts per game.
Really, it was a math equation. As Millsap scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, there were more shots for Horford.
Millsap averages 12.7 shots per game, and got off just four through the first three quarters while Horford made 8-of-20.
“I couldn’t get open to save my life,” said Millsap. “On the pick-and-rolls they were switching, and Nene wouldn’t leave me on the perimeter. Maybe that’s the shot that they settled for.”
Horford could hardly buy a shot early, going 1-of-7 in the first quarter. His teammates went 9-of-16, however, including a whopping 6-of-9 on 3-pointers for a 29-18 lead.
“A lot of them felt good,” he said. “They just didn’t go down. Some nights it’s like that.”
The big guy didn’t stop shooting, and head coach Mike Budenholzer was fine with that as Horford finished 10-of-24.
He scored 11 second-quarter points on 5-for-8 shooting.
“He looked like he was going to attack the basket,” the coach said. “It’s always good when he or anybody has that mindset … We’re not just shooting jump shots. All of us are getting to the paint. He’s a big part of that.”
Horford and Millsap were partnered equally in one way. They each grabbed seven defensive rebounds on a night when the Hawks grabbed 37. Washington had just five offensive rebounds, four in the fourth quarter, three in the game’s final 2:50.
After outrebounding Washington 46-41, Millsap had an explanation for that, too.
In Monday night’s 115-100 loss in New Orleans, the Pelicans beat Atlanta 52-32 on the glass, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to the Hawks’ 23 defensive boards.
No wonder the Pelicans scored 17 second-chance points.
The Wizards scored six – none in the first half, when they didn’t gather a single offensive rebound as Atlanta took 19 defensive rebounds on 19 missed Washington shots (16-of-35).
“Probably the last game we had; we got our butts beat on the boards and it definitely was a point of emphasis,” Millsap. “I think we know the reason why we lost that game. We knew that they offensive rebounded, and beat us on the boards. We were taking it more upon ourselves, boxing out.”
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