This will be a different postseason for Al Horford.
So different.
Last season, after playing only 11 regular-season games, Horford returned from a torn left pectoral muscle for the final three games of the Hawks’ first-round series loss to the Celtics.
This season he enters the playoffs more like the two-time All-Star he was before the substantial injury. Over the Hawks’ final 41 games, Horford averaged 19.4 points and 10.7 rebounds. He set season-highs in every per-game statistical category except assists, including points (34) and rebounds (22).
“It was really hard last year,” Horford said. “It was one of those things, looking back on it, I don’t know if I should have played, if it was the smartest thing for me. Going from an injury to playing right away is a big different. This year, I’m healthy. I feel good. I’m excited to be able to show the fans what I can do.”
Horford will play a key role in this year’s first-round series against the Pacers, which begins Sunday. The Hawks face a height disadvantage against the Pacers, and the 6-foot-10 Horford will be matched against the 7-2 Roy Hibbert.
Horford averaged 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds last year against the Celtics after he returned for Game 4 of the series. He acknowledges that was a difficult task.
“I don’t think physically I was hurt, but I didn’t have any practice time,” Horford said. “I went from rehabbing with my therapist to going out there and playing. It was pretty extreme.”
Hawks strength-and-conditioning coach Jeff Watkinson says he doesn’t expect Horford’s injured shoulder to be 100 percent until next season.
Horford didn’t start this season slowly, but he definitely has gained momentum even as he was bothered by hamstring and calf injuries. In all but one of the 35 games he has played in the second half, Horford failed to score in double-figures just once. That was a nine-point effort in a home loss to the Knicks.
Overall, Horford averaged career-highs of 17.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. He scored in double-figures in 68 of his 74 games played, including 27 20-point efforts. The Hawks were 22-5 in those games.
“I think he is much healthier,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “He is playing with a lot more confidence. He’s shooting the ball with more confidence. He accepts the go-to position at the end of games. He embraces it. He just got into a really good rhythm with his shot, with his post-ups. He is active defensively, rebounding the basketball and running the floor. That’s who he is. He really has built off of it game after game.”
Although undersized for the center position, Horford played there most of the season. He moved to power forward when the Hawks played teams with a distinct size advantage — such as the Pacers. Horford started at center in only one of the four regular-season meetings between the teams. With the season-ending injury to backup Zaza Pachulia, Horford will be the main man in the middle. He will get some help, but much of the responsibility will reside with him.
He’s just fine with that.
“I’m more comfortable playing our regular lineup (in the playoffs), just because we all understand each other,” Horford said. “We know what we have to do. I don’t mind throughout the game changing and playing (power forward). For what we are trying to do as a team, push the tempo, it’s convenient for me to start playing (center).”
