Once Al Horford officially chose to depart the Boston Celtics for the Golden State Warriors, the veteran center would have circled the date of his one and only return to the place he called home for seven of the previous nine seasons.
That date now comes around on Wednesday, but unfortunately for Horford and both the Warriors and Celtics, injury has robbed the 39-year-old from participating in what would have been the biggest game of his regular season.
Injury robs Al Horford of opportunity to face the Celtics in Boston
While Horford has rested on one side of a back-to-back all season, he had remained healthy and playing productive basketball since his return from a frustrating sciatic injury on Christmas Day against the Dallas Mavericks.
That was until last Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, with Horford starting the game but leaving after less than five minutes. It was subsequently announced that the 5x All-Star had suffered a mild calf strain, placing him out for at least a week which includes Wednesday's return to Boston.
Horford has already seen the Celtics in recent times, playing over 27 minutes off the bench when his former team came into Chase Center and recorded a 121-110 victory just after the All-Star break.
Yet Wednesday's game was set to be extra special in front of his former fans. Horford was a huge part of the culture and on-court performance in Boston over the past decade, including winning his maiden NBA championship with the franchise in 2024.
There was set to be a mix of emotions. The Celtics as a franchise were undobutedly going to (and may still) give Horford a lot of love and celebrate his career, but perhaps there's some angst among fans for Horford leaving in the wake of Jayson Tatum's torn achilles.
Ironically, Horford would have departed believing that, largely due to Tatum's injury, the Warriors were going to be a stronger contender than the Celtics this season. Instead, Golden State's playoff hopes are fading due to a host of injuries, while Boston are second in the Eastern Conference and have just regained Tatum who has made a successful return.
Kristaps Porzingis will meet his former team
While Horford won't be available for Wednesday's game, Kristaps Porzingis will play in Boston for the first time since the franchise traded him to the Atlanta Hawks last season. He's likely to get a warm reception all round, having played two years for the franchise which included winning the title in 2024.
Porzingis was traded to Golden State last month and made his debut in that February 19 game against the Celtics at Chase Center, scoring 12 points in 17 minutes during the 11-point loss. The Latvian has started to show his quality with the Warriors in recent games, going for 30 points on only 13 shots in Monday's win over the Washington Wizards.