Center Al Horford may retire or sign with a new team in the offseason, something his Celtics teammates are not looking forward to.
Center Al Horford may retire or sign with a new team in the offseason, something his Celtics teammates are not looking forward to.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
This is the second of a three-part series evaluating the Celtics’ roster, highlighting the top rotation players off the bench and coach Joe Mazzulla.
Al Horford
For a big man who turns 39 in two weeks, Horford generally held up well when switching onto opposing guards on the perimeter. But there also was a reason that teams tended to hunt this matchup, with Knicks guard Jalen Brunson most recently exploiting it during the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Still, Horford remains impactful, as evidenced by the fact that the Celtics were 4.1 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor this season, the second-best differential among regular rotation players.
When the team held exit interviews on Tuesday, players sounded devastated when discussing the possibility of Horford retiring or signing with a new team as a free agent. He was the glue of the locker room over the past few seasons, and that counts for something.
Payton Pritchard
With Jayson Tatum set to miss most or all of next season because of his Achilles’ injury, the Celtics will need Pritchard to provide even more offensive pop. Every time his role has been expanded in his career, he has capitalized.
Pritchard’s 3-point shooting remains a weapon. He averaged a career-high 7.8 attempts this season and connected on 40.7 percent. But his impact is felt elsewhere, too.
Payton Pritchard, winner of the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award this season, averaged a career-high 7.8 3-point attempts this season and connected on 40.7 percent.
Payton Pritchard, winner of the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award this season, averaged a career-high 7.8 3-point attempts this season and connected on 40.7 percent.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
It’s remarkable to watch a player his size essentially move larger defenders out of the way as he finds space closer to the rim. Also, his 1.3 offensive rebounds per game led NBA guards shorter than 6 feet 4 inches. Pritchard is generously listed at 6-1.
Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, was invaluable during the playoffs, too. The Celtics outscored the Magic and Knicks by 12.3 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, and they were outscored by 4.5 per 100 while he sat.
Sam Hauser
Opponents have hunted Hauser on defense for years, and there have been times when their pursuit of matchups against him compromised their offense because they were straying from their general principles.
But this season, Hauser did regress at that end of the court a bit. A season ago, opponents shot 1.4 percentage points above their average with Hauser serving as the primary defender, and this season that number sprouted by 4.8 percentage points.
Hauser’s consistency as a 3-point shooter has been a boon. He has made at least 41.5 percent of his attempts in all four of his NBA seasons, a remarkable run for a former undrafted free agent.
Hauser had a sparkling plus-17.5 net rating during the playoffs, so maybe the ankle injury he sustained in Game 1 against the Knicks was more damaging than many realized. The Celtics could have a tough decision to make this summer. Hauser will receive a reasonable $10 million salary as his four-year extension kicks in, but because of luxury taxes that figure could end up costing the team upward of $80 million.
Luke Kornet
If the Celtics had overcome the 3-1 deficit and defeated the Knicks, Kornet’s masterful Game 5 performance in which he registered seven blocked shots — five in the third quarter — would have lived forever in Celtics lore.
Nevertheless, the backup big man had an excellent season, and as an unrestricted free agent will certainly command more on the open market than the minimum-salary deal he had this season.
Kornet drew Mazzulla’s constant praise for knowing where he needed to be in just about every situation on both ends of the floor, and he quickly moved ahead of Neemias Queta on the depth chart.
Mazzulla embraced double-big lineups much more frequently this season, and Kornet thrived in them. He and Kristaps Porzingis had a plus-24.7 net rating when paired together, and Kornet was plus-20.5 with Queta and plus-14.5 alongside Horford.
Kornet does not play above the rim, but he has turned into an excellent shot-blocker and rebounder. His offensive rebounding percentage (13.4) was more than Porzingis and Horford combined (10.0).
Joe Mazzulla
Through three full seasons, Mazzulla’s .740 winning percentage is the best in NBA history by a wide margin, with former Bulls and Lakers Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson second at .704. Still, an argument can be made that the Celtics should have two NBA championships under Mazzulla, and perhaps even three, rather than one.
The Celtics’ reliance on the 3-pointer ultimately proved costly this season; their 25-for-100 shooting through the first two games of the Knicks series was part of the reason they fell into an 0-2 deficit. The Celtics fired up an NBA-record 48.2 per game during the regular season, leading the league for the second consecutive season. But their shooting percentage dipped from second last season to 10th this season.
Still, Mazzulla showed a willingness to adapt in other areas, from shifting to successful double-big sets to using timeouts more urgently. He did bring a championship to Boston one year ago, and the players and front office remained all-in on his approach this season.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.