Horford on Game 2: ‘I’m playing’

Hawks forward Al Horford holds his hand after he dislocated his right pinky finger against the Nets in Game 1 of their playoff series Sunday in Atlanta.

Credit: Kevin C. Cox

Credit: Kevin C. Cox

Hawks forward Al Horford holds his hand after he dislocated his right pinky finger against the Nets in Game 1 of their playoff series Sunday in Atlanta.

Al Horford left no doubt that he will play Game 2.

The Hawks All-Star center left open the possibility that he may not play in the playoff game due to the dislocated right pinky finger he suffered in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Nets Sunday.

“I’m playing,” Horford said Tuesday. “I’m playing. I feel fine. I practiced today.”

Horford said he must still have his pinky and ring fingers taped together, something that affected his shooting when he returned to the game following the injury.

“They said if I don’t, it could happen again,” Horford said.

His teammates never thought Horford would miss the game.

“It’s the playoffs,” Jeff Teague said. “I knew Al wasn’t sitting out. Y’all believed that? I never thought that for a second. Al is a warrior.”

Paul Millsap, who is dealing with a right shoulder sprain and contusion, also took part in practice before Wednesday’s Game 2 of the best-of-seven series between the top-seeded Hawks and eighth-seeded Nets.

In the portion of practice opened to the media, Millsap was not wearing the compression shirt or the pad he has worn in the past two games since his return to the lineup. He did have kinesiology tape on his shoulder. He was not made available to the media following practice.