Celtics' Al Horford Praises Jayson Tatum: 'He Is Our Most Important Player'

After Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd tried to play mind games involving Jayson Tatum early in the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics have done a good job of deflecting attention away from that.

Speaking to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Al Horford called Tatum the "most important player" for the Celtics when asked about "the importance of Tatum's availability night in and night out.

"He is our most important player," Horford said. "And when you know that you have your best player available all the time, No. 1, I feel like it raises the level for all of us to be like, 'Oh, we better make sure that we're available, and that we're good to go.'"

Horford was responding to a question about Tatum's availability on a night-to-night basis. The Celtics have the luxury of knowing they are going to have Tatum in the lineup in a way that some teams don't with their All-Star players.

Kidd told reporters between Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals that Jaylen Brown is Boston's best player.

The Celtics didn't take the bait, with Brown saying he had "no reaction" to the comment. Kidd later told The Athletic's Sam Amick his statement "wasn't mind games," but a reaction to what he saw from Boston watching the playoffs.

"My whole thing was that, watching the Eastern Conference (playoffs), like, he has been (the Celtics' best player)," Kidd said. "No one ever said I was wrong. Even their player said I wasn't lying."

Tatum has never missed more than eight games in a season and a total of 33 in his first seven seasons in the NBA. The Celtics have reached the Eastern Conference Finals five times and NBA Finals twice during this span.

Even though Tatum has had some shooting woes in the Finals and throughout this postseason, he's made a significant impact on both ends of the court for the Celtics. He had 12 assists in Game 2 against the Mavs before dropping 31 points in Game 3.

Regardless of who is the best or most important player for the Celtics, the only thing that matters for everyone on the team right now is they are one win away from winning an NBA title.

Boston can close out the Mavericks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night at American Airlines Center. The Celtics have yet to lose on the road in this postseason (7-0).