The Boston Celtics rallied for a 116-108 victory in what became a critical must-win game that featured an unexpected scratch from Robert Williams just an hour before tipoff.

The Boston Celtics tied the series 2-2 as Game 5 returns back to the Boston TD Garden on Wednesday night.

This is no longer “Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.” This will forever be known as “The Al Horford Game.”

For the Celtics to win this game, I was under the assumption that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown needed to have a vintage fire-and-ice performance in order to win Game 4. And they did for the most part, combining for 48 points. However it was none other than Ol’ Reliable Al Horford, who was the difference maker in this game.

Horford had another career night for himself. This time around it was for scoring 30 points in the playoffs for the first time in his career. Without Rob, Horford was going to play a ton, however, it wasn’t expected for him to match Tatum’s production and be THE GUY that Tatum needed to play perfect next to him. And that’s what Horford was: PERFECT. 

It was another slow start for Tatum despite finishing with 30 points. He finished on 11-24 shooting and only made 3-10 from behind the arc. There were times I felt Tatum was pushing for the 3-pointers to fall for him too hard rather than create another type of opportunity.

As it was for Brown, who finished with 18 points on 5-11 shooting. He got into foul trouble early and ended up playing limited minutes down the stretch as a result. There was a moment in the first half where he grabbed at his hamstring, still dealing with the lingering injury, however it didn’t seem to bother him too much in this one.

Marcus Smart played exceptionally well and made it known why the Celtics didn’t need to go out and acquire a legitimate point guard. Smart produced 18 points and eight assists in what could arguably have been the most traditional style point guard of a game he’s had. Not to mentioning locking up Jrue Holiday and showcasing why he’s the Defensive Player of the Year.

Grant Williams stepped into the starting lineup and got beat up once again in this game but he continues to just get back up like it’s nothing. He finished with nine points on 3-9 shooting and had four fouls. It wasn’t his best game on offense, however, Williams is still one of the best and most versatile options the Celtics have on both sides of the court right now.

In all, this was an extremely telling victory for many reasons. But in the end, the Celtics flipped the script on this series and regained momentum. Especially as the series is shifting back to Boston, which is HUGE and why I believe the Celtics are going to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Follow us on Twitter @CelticsFiles

Photo Credit: Dylan Buell