Al Horford challenges his teammates to embrace the details needed to win ahead of the playoffs

“At the end of the day,” said Horford, “I feel like we all need to understand what we’re playing for.”

Al Horford has his eyes set on Banner 18, but he felt the need to air some concerns about the Boston Celtics’ mediocre play of late after a loss to the Utah Jazz, according to The Athletic’s Jay King.

“Defensively we’re covering for each other,” Horford said. “But definitely on offense, you notice (the recent slippage).”

Before a film session, the Florida alumnus challenged his teammates to play with more urgency and to take care of the minor details they hadn’t in recent contests. Teammate Robert Williams III said Horford wanted them to “talk to each other, accept criticism and not let problems linger” given “we’ve got something bigger we’re working toward.”

That sentiment was echoed by Marcus Smart, who said the team knows how good we can be as well as that they are human.

“If we don’t get certain stuff together as a group — communication and rebounding and stuff like that — then we will be in trouble. And that’s really it.”

“Just really trying to get us back to who we were last season when we made that run,” he added. “And that’s really it. Because if we can lock down on those things, we’re really a tough team.”

“At the end of the day,” said Horford, “I feel like we all need to understand what we’re playing for.”

Banner 18, for those of you who haven’t been keeping notes.

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