Al Horford pushes Celtics to avoid misstep against Pacers

BOSTON — Al Horford likely won’t have many more chances to reach the NBA Finals in his career so it’s no surprise the 37-year-old big man is locked in as Boston preps for their third straight Eastern Conference Finals series. Boston is a heavy favorite to advance against the sixth-seeded Pacers and move on to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. However, Horford cautioned his teammates to avoid the heavy expectations that Boston is facing nationally before the series begins.

“I don’t listen to it to begin with,” Horford said at the Auerbach Center Tuesday. “I try to focus on our team and the things we have to do. There’s always going to be a storyline and all of these things are going to be created and I get it. For us, we understand what we need to do. We understand that Indiana is a really good team. They beat Milwaukee, they beat New York, they are a proven team. We understand the challenge that is in front of us.”

Respecting the Pacers should be easy for Boston when it comes to defense since Indiana has the best offense in the NBA through the first two rounds. With the series starting in Boston, Horford knows Boston must be on guard to avoid a home letdown that has been an issue with Boston constantly during their last three postseason runs.

“It’s been very important,” Horford said. “The one thing is we’re excited to play at home and other teams are excited to play at the Garden. It’s one of those things that we have to make sure that we’ve worked so hard to get homecourt advantage. I’m excited that we are starting here and have an opportunity here to go out and establish ourselves.”

The Pacers have been able to sustain their uptempo offense in the postseason, posting 121.8 points per 100 possessions with the highest pace among Eastern Conference teams. Their ability to shoot well and avoid turnovers has allowed them to use the multiple weapons they have in their starting five around Tyrese Haliburton to punish the defense. Boston staying disciplined will be the key to combating that attack according to Joe Mazzulla.

“They’re obviously one of the fastest playing teams and do a great job getting out in transition and forcing cross-matches,” Mazzulla said Monday. “But I think at the end of the day they don’t have a predictable spacing. So as they’re starting to drive and kick and screen and move you can lose sight of guys. And you end up putting two on the ball, two on the cutter, over-helping and you get those wide-open shots. I’d venture to say it’s mixed between their transition, but also their ability to kind of play without a script on the offensive end, which creates some of that indecision in that communication.

“So that’s where the test comes in, No. 1, kind of get back in transition initially and then also in the half court. Our individual defense has to be disciplined, our weak-side defense has to be disciplined, reading how much we have to help and kind of where those guys that relocate are.”

The Pacers are going to go on scoring runs in this series no matter what the Celtics do. The key for Boston, according to Jaylen Brown, will be to stay even-keeled during those ups and downs to stay the course.

“You just gotta stay and navigate your emotions and take it one possession at a time,” Brown said. “I feel like you’ll always have a chance to win if you don’t get caught up in the emotion of the game,the emotion of the crowd and the emotion of the media or whatever it goes. Just come out and play each and every possession with the best intentions possible.”

The Celtics host the Pacers in Game 1 at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night.