According to The Athletic’s Jay King, Al Horford will not play for the Boston Celtics on November 10 when the Cs host the Brooklyn Nets in their first NBA In-Season Tournament game at the TD Garden. Boston will also play on November 11 against the Toronto Raptors.
“Al Horford, who didn’t play in both legs of back-to-backs last season, will be held out of tonight’s game against Brooklyn, per the Celtics,” King said before going on to say, “Boston also hosts the Raptors tomorrow.”
Horford appeared in the first seven games of the Celtics’ 2023-24 season after the league changed its rules to reduce DNPs for non-injury/maintenance reasons.
With the Boston Celtics, Al Horford is adjusting to his new bench role.
According to NBC Sports’ Chris Forsberg, Horford has been able to adjust to a bench role, which he has never had during his Celtics tenure.
“After starting 1,003 of his first 1,013 regular-season games, Horford is adjusting to a new reserve role for a revamped Celtics team that added Kristaps Porzingis to its frontcourt this offseason,” Forsberg prefaced before saying, “Even as his shot has defied him at times to start the year, Horford has a +19.8 net rating in 107 minutes (slotting behind only White, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown among Boston’s top regulars).
“According to the NBA’s tracking data, opponents were shooting a paltry 29.4 percent against Horford through four games.” That was the team’s best score, but it was 17.2 percent lower than expected. According to PBP Stats, the Celtics have a sizzling 132.4 offensive rating and a +32.4 net rating in the 54 minutes that Horford has been asked to hold the fort without Porzingis on the floor. Horford could be especially important when Boston travels to Minnesota on Monday night to try to remain the NBA’s only unbeaten team.”
The loss of Horford is significant, and it could leave the Celtics vulnerable against a Brooklyn team rated as a top-10 offense in 2023-24.
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