BOSTON -- Thursday is the 10-year anniversary of the epic Sweet 16 battle between Butler and Florida in the NCAA tournament. As soon as the game was referenced to Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens before Wednesday's tilt with the Indiana Pacers, he offered a sentiment held by many in Indianapolis.

"Al Horford charged," said Stevens, a Butler assistant coach at the time and now Horford's head coach in Boston. "He charged."

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs and the defending champion and top-seeded Gators were tied at 54 with under three minutes to play when Horford backed down Butler forward Brandon Crone from the 3-point line. Spinning to his right on the blocks, Horford and Crone collided, and Crone was whistled for his fifth foul as Horford banked home the layup.

Florida emerged with a 65-57 win en route to its second consecutive national title. Stevens took over as head coach of the Bulldogs the next season and guided them to two national title games. But that loss to Florida still sticks with Stevens.

"I sent [the video] to [Horford] when we first signed him," Stevens said. "We had a one-point lead with, what was it, three minutes to go or whatever? And we had a doctor and a dentist guarding Horford and [Joakim] Noah, that was not ideal. Horford took one of our undersized 4s -- probably an undersized 3 -- who is now an assistant at Butler and took him from the 3-point line to the basket and got an and-1. It was a charge. And you can ask Al about it later.

"It doesn’t still irk me or anything."

Inside the Celtics' locker room, Horford smiled wide when the game and Stevens' commentary were relayed.

"I think that when you look back at the game and you’re the team that lost, you’re always going to find excuses and ways to try to [explain the loss]," Horford said. "But, hey, it was an and-1 call, it was a big play, and we put them away. [Butler was] a good team. They were a tough team. They played us hard all the way."

Horford was asked if Stevens really sent him the video after signing him.

"He did. He’s brought it up about three times, so I think it still lingers in his mind," Horford said. "And, yeah, it was one of those games that I will never forget, just because it was a Sweet 16 game, very intense. I feel like [Butler] played us better than anybody did that year in the tournament. Gotta give the coaches a lot of credit, because they had their guys ready to go."

And, as you probably can guess, Stevens didn't suggest Horford charged when the Celtics' contingent first traveled to Atlanta in early July to pitch him on coming to Boston.

"Of course. It wasn’t before [my decision]," Horford said with a laugh. "Definitely."