Jayson Tatum gushed about Al Horford after he kept Luka Doncic and LeBron James in check

The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics are most known for their star power. It doesn't get much better than having guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and even Derrick White on your roster. But these Celtics aren't remotely part of the league's upper echelon without their role players, especially veteran big man Al Horford. They're probably not an elite title contender. Where Tatum and Brown usually do the flashy stuff, Horford is often putting in Yeoman's work, accepting the toughest assignments and achieving them with aplomb.

We saw this firsthand on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With a challenging battle against Luka Doncic and LeBron James on deck, Horford didn't blink an eye whenever he had to guard either forward one-on-one. He put on a veritable defensive clinic against two superstars who are accustomed to getting whatever shot they want, whenever they want. He made both Doncic and James work for every possession when guarding them, in turn pushing the Celtics to their convincing 111-101 win. And the fact that Horford is still doing things like this at the age of 38 only makes it all the more impressive.

Somehow, he's probably still one of the NBA's underappreciated and underrated players.

Tatum agrees with this assessment. During his postgame press conference, Tatum couldn't stop gushing about everything Horford does for the Celtics, especially for their defense:

That's the kind of role player every championship-caliber team needs to go over the top. If the Celtics are to repeat later this year, they're going to need this version of Horford to do so. Fortunately, he appears to be up to the task.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jayson Tatum praised Al Horford for defense on Luka Doncic, LeBron James