Al Horford and Kwame Brown injury update

by NBA

Two valuable big men will be missing from their team’s lineups for a little while after suffering torn pectoral muscles.

Al Horford was injured on this play while being blocked by Indiana's Roy Hibbert. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Hawks Al Horford left the game early last night with what was originally reported as a shoulder injury and was diagnosed today with a torn pectoral muscle. He’s out for the next 3-4 months, which most likely means the rest of the season. He could return right at the end or possibly for the playoffs, but is safely droppable in all leagues.

Zaza Pachulia will step into the starting lineup and play around 30 minutes a game. He’s valuable if you need boards and points. He’ll be a nightly candidate for a double-double. He’s not going to explode in scoring but will be a solid 8-10 boards a night.

Golden State’s Kwame Brown suffered the same injury and will most likely miss the rest of the season also. Andris Biedrins will probably get a little more run as C and Baylor product Ekpe Udoh will be the first big off the bench. Udoh is somebody to keep an eye on for blocks and boards, and if Biedrins were to go down, he’d be a huge add. There’s no need to run out and grab either Warrior big man, but see how the minutes all shake out.

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  1. [...] Zaza Pachulia-Atl: Pachulia will get a ton of minutes with Al Horford out for months. He responded last night with 10 points and 10 baords to go with 4 assists. He’ll be almost a [...]

  2. [...] 8:05-Atlanta Hawks: Fear not, Portland, I’m staying away from your Blazers. I’ve picked them 3 times this month and gone 0-3 so I’ll stay away from Aldridge, Felton, and the Batum boys. Instead I’ll take the red hot Josh Smith and Joe Johnson to carry the Hawks at home over Portland. Jamal Crawford returns to Atlanta in this one, so his production is even more of a wild card than normal, but I still feel confident enough in the way that the Hawks are playing that they feel like the best pick of the night to me even as they figure out their cover for the injured Al Horford. [...]