Golden State Warriors fans collectively held their breath when news of a potential injury to Al Horford festered ahead of their preseason clash with the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. ESPN NBA reporter Anthony Slater reported that Horford was scratched after a knee injury. But Slater put the severity into perspective.
“Left knee contusion for Al Horford, per Warriors. Sounds like absence was minor/precautionary,” Slater posted to his X account.
He then shared that several other projected rotation players will likely not play against Portland.
“Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Al Horford will not travel to Portland for the back-to-back tomorrow. A few others may skip the trip also, per Kerr…Yaxel Lendeborg is also among those Warriors not making the trip to Portland. Sounds like it’ll be a very thin group vs Blazers tomorrow night.”
Horford's minor injury is a relief for Warriors fans after recent injury news about Kristaps Porzingis. In media availability on Tuesday, Kerr din't provide any updates on Porzingis's injury and even pointed out how his lack of availability is concerning.
Article Continues Below“Yeah, I mean, we want him back,” Kerr said. “He's a really talented player, and so we thought that he was in a pretty good place. So it's definitely concerning, and as I said, all we're going to do is support him, give him every bit of medical help he can get, emotional support, and hope that he's back soon.”
Horford is expected to be a key rotation player for the team in Prozingis's absence at the start of the season.