Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazulla have both talked about the plays on the margins. The teams are so good defensively and so stingy, these games are coming down to little plays throughout the game.
They are about turnovers and offensive rebounds. They are about the right shots at the right time. They are about so many things that might not even show up in the stat sheet.
The margins in this series have been small. The Magic know that fully. With how precise they must be on defense to hold down this Celtics offense, they cannot afford to get beaten or give up any possessions. They have to win the possession battle and the hidden moments in the game.
At every turn, though, the Celtics have found many of these extra plays. They have had the championship will to close things out. They have been able to find those extra possessions, and more importantly, make the Magic pay for those miscues.
Those plays are important throughout the series. Wendell Carter saved a ball from going out of bounds by knocking it off Derrick White to take time off the clock and prevent the Celtics from having the chance to tie the game in Game 3. That was a huge win as the Magic held on for a two-point victory.
In Game 4, those plays all went to the Celtics. And they were typically made by Al Horford.
The veteran, 38-year-old forward is averaging a meager 6.5 points per game in this series against the Magic. He has only 7.0 rebounds per game. He is a forgotten player on this roster, even though he has been pulled into the starting lineup since Game 2 because of Jayson Tatum's wrist injury and now because of Jrue Holiday's hamstring issue.
But Horford was as impactful as any player in the Celtics' win. He recorded only six points. But he had five blocks, including two blocks on 3-pointers. He blocked another jumper.
But no play was bigger than his block on Paolo Banchero with 1:35 to play. Banchero spun past the Celtics' too bigs and thought he had a shot at the rim, but Horford rejected the shot and collected the rebound.
At a point when the Magic were down seven and needed to be perfect to climb back into the game, this was another consequential play that kept Orlando from making its mark.
Horford helped secure the victory and the 3-1 series lead for Boston.
"I can't say it enugh, Al is unbelievable," Jayson Tatum said after Game 4. "Big moments. Game is tied, four minutes left and just making plays the entire night on both ends of the floor. 38 years old, you are picking up full court doing whatever is asked of him and just kind ofsets the otne fore verybody else. He has the heart of a champion."
There were a lot of plays like that.
Jaylen Brown noted a play where Al Horford dove into the Magic's bench to collect a rebound. There was a play where Horford picked up a ball handler full court. Another play where he came flying back into the play and swatted a Cory Joseph jumper into the crowd.
Horford was everywhere and it is these plays that energized the Celtics and helped them stay in the lead throughout Game 4.
"There should be a separate stat sheet for guys like him, becuase of the type of stuff that he does," Mazulla said. "But [he] just got an offensive rebound for us there in the fourth quarter. Just an unbelievale competitor. Made all the plays necessary to help us win."
This is what the Celtics expect from Horford. The player who wins those margins, doing the things that do not show up in the stat sheet.
Horford may not have the best plus/minus numbers, but he will make all those plays they need. That is what this series comes down to.
There are so many differences between the Magic and Celtics in this series. Horford and this ability to find these plays have been one of them.
Orlando is young and lacks some of that veteran expertise. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has struggled to impact the series. The Magic have gotten some good play from Cory Joseph, but he is a limited player.
Perhaps Jalen Suggs would make all these plays to win games if he were healthy. Moe Wagner would help, too. The Magic are missing these key sparkplugs who simply find winning plays.
Maybe a lot of it is experience. The Celtics are undoubtedly confident because of their championship pedigree now. And they are playing like it.
Boston gets a lot of energy from their veteran leader. That is something the Magic must find whether it is Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Celtics have another well to dig to find a way through.
"If Al can do it, fourth quarter, game on the line, there are no excuses for anybody else," Brown said after Game 4. "It just anchors us down. Our physicality was great tonight. I thought we had a lot more physical with Banchero just making it tough for him. But Orlando is a really good team. They are coached well. They are physical. Defensively, they have been great this series. It's not over. We have to close them out. We don't want to come back here."
Game 5 will once again be decided on the margins. It will again be decided by little plays like the ones Horford made throughout Game 4.
If Orlando wants to force Boston to return to the Kia Center for Game 6, Orlando will need to win these margins Horford won for Boston on Sunday.