The Atlanta Hawks received a major blow on Thursday, as starting center Al Horford is likely to miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, according to multiple reports. The news was first broken by Zach Klein of WSB in Atlanta, while Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears confirms that Horford is expected to miss 3-4 months with a torn left pectoral injury.
Horford suffered the injury in the Hawks' 96-84 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. His loss is a huge blow to a Hawks team that relies on him to do so many things. He has steadily improved over the course of his career and was named to his first All-Star team last season. He had gotten off to a slow start this year -- 12.4 points and seven rebounds per game in just under 32 minutes -- but with the Hawks' lack of depth up front, losing him is still a major blow.
Zaza Pachulia will likely start in Horford's place, and D-League call-up Ivan Johnson will probably receive more time.
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