Boston Celtics ace Al Horford insists he is proud of his team despite seeing their 16-game winning run come to an end against the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

The Celtics went into the match at the American Airlines Arena having not lost a regular season contest in over a month, but they trailed for most of the game against the Heat before ultimately succumbing to a 104-98 loss.

Boston remain top of both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings and power forward Horford believes the team should be proud of their impressive form.

Horford said: “We put ourselves in position to win a game there and we didn’t make the plays down the stretch.

We have to learn from that.” The 31-year-old acknowledged that the Celtics’ winning sequence was always going to come to an end, particularly as they had come from behind in a number of their matches, but he believes that underlines their never-say-die attitude.

He added: “It wasn’t like we were necessarily dominating during the streak. But the will of this team is something that needs to be accounted for.”

Next up for Boston is a home clash with Orlando Magic on Friday and they will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways as they have already beaten Frank Vogel’s side this season.

The Celtics’ ultimate aim for the campaign is to claim a first NBA Championship title since 2008 and they are 10.00 to do so while they are available at 3.40 to secure Eastern Conference glory.