Updates from Tuesday, Oct. 14

The Hawk announced Al Horford will play in tonight's preseason game:

Original Text

Atlanta Hawks forward-center Al Horford's nearly 10-month absence caused by a torn pectoral muscle will end this week, coach Mike Budenholzer said Monday.    

“I think we are hopeful that at some point during the week he’ll get a chance to play,” Budenholzer said, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Horford, 28, was limited to 29 games last season after injuring his chest in a Dec. 26 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Hawks were the Eastern Conference's third-place team when Horford went down. They eventually dropped to the No. 8 seed, losing to the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game first-round series.

A two-time All-Star, Horford was averaging a career-high 18.6 points per game on 56.7 percent shooting before the injury, along with 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. It was the second time in three years he missed a significant chunk of the season due to an injury.

In 2011-12, Horford suffered a tear to his left pectoral that cost him the regular season's final 55 games. Though the Hawks have brought him along slow this time, the plan was for him to take it easy in the preseason. Horford told reporters last week that he hoped to play in two preseason games after slowly increasing his workload in practice.

"I felt good and I was glad to be back in the flow of things, working in the offense and getting some reps defensively," Horford told reporters. "That was important for me."

The Hawks open their regular-season schedule Oct. 29 against the Toronto Raptors. Horford is expected to start at center.

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