On this day: Al Horford, Ramón Rivas born; Heat beaten in OT in ’12 ECF

On this day, former Boston Celtic big men Al Horford and Ramón Rivas were born; Boston also defeated the Miami Heat in OT in Game 3 of the 2012 ECF.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Boston big man Al Horford was born in 1986 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. A product of the University of Florida, he helped lead that school to back-to-back NCAA championships (one of the only schools in history to do so) with center Joakim Noah before being drafted third overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

After nine seasons with that franchise, he would sign with the Celtics in free agency in the summer of 2016, making the All-Star team twice with the team (in 2016 and 2018) before leaving in free agency in 2019, only to return to the team via trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2021.

Happy birthday, Al!