Hawks guard Joe Johnson could return from injury soon, and center Al Horford is planning a return by the end of the season.
Johnson (left knee tendinitis) practiced Tuesday. He failed to finish the Hawks’ 90-79 defeat at Chicago on Jan. 20, then sat out the next two games and did not participate in the All-Star game and other scheduled activities in Orlando over the weekend.
Horford has been out since Jan. 17 surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle. He no longer wears a sling and said he hopes to begin rehabilitation Wednesday.
Johnson practiced with soft braces on both knees and said he “feels great” after a “much-needed” physical and mental break, but he stopped short of declaring himself ready to play against Golden State on Wednesday at Philips Arena.
“I think so,” he said. “I don’t want to get everybody’s hopes up.”
Horford suffered his injury Jan. 11 at Indiana, and the prognosis included a recovery time of three to four months. He is to see his doctor Wednesday and expects to be cleared to begin rehabilitation after he recently started doing cardiovascular exercises.
The Hawks’ regular season concludes April 26, and the team is on track to qualify for the playoffs.
“I would say after I do [rehab] for two weeks I will be able to get a better feel for where I’m at,” Horford said. “[The doctor] has been pretty strict with me not moving my arms in [certain] ways so the muscle can heal. I’m hoping right now I will be back before the end of the season. That’s my expectation, but I want to see how I feel once I start rehab.”
Hawks center Zaza Pachulia, who has started 20 games in place of Horford, watched the conclusion of Tuesday’s practice from the sideline with a wrap around his left calf. Pachulia said he tweaked the calf during the third quarter of the Hawks’ 83-78 victory against Orlando on Thursday.
Pachulia said he should be able to play Wednesday.
“It was bothering me a little bit,” he said. “It looks like it’s not a big deal. I just pulled, I guess, a little bit. Bad thing was it happened, good thing was that I had four days off.”
Pachulia injured the same calf while playing for Georgia last summer in the European Championships and again in September while playing for a club team in Turkey.
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