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'We have to get him the ball': Crowder after Horford's 5-shot game

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

The Boston Celtics' $113-million import hasn't quite gotten off to a rousing start.

Hampered by a concussion to start the campaign, Al Horford's underwhelming Boston debut continued Wednesday, when he only attempted five shots for nine points in a home loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Horford played the good soldier and didn't complain about a lack of touches, but Celtics forward Jae Crowder wouldn't let his team off the hook.

"Starting from my point guard, starting all the guys around him, we have to get him the ball in spots that we know he can help our team," Crowder said, according to Jay King of Mass Live.

"That's very unacceptable."

Horford did receive 64 touches, according to Player Tracking data, which ranked second to only Isaiah Thomas for tops on the Celtics, but he mostly looked to pass. He did finish with four assists in 32 minutes, and is posting the best assist percentage of his career this season.

But it's the nine points on 3-of-5 shooting with only two free throws that remains curious. Horford has been one of Boston's most efficient shooters to start the year, but his usage rate has reached a five-year low at just 18.2 percent. Not coincidentally, his scoring has also dropped off.

All that said, offense hasn't been an issue for the Celtics. It's their ordinarily stout defense that has let them down. The Pistons' 121-point effort on Wednesday exposed Boston's biggest weakness: interior defense and rebounding. The Pistons got 34 shots in the restricted area and out-rebounded the Celtics by 19.

That, more than anything else, is where Horford has come up short. The $113-million man is supposed to provide elite two-way production from the frontcourt. That hasn't quite materialized just yet.

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