Al Horford was supposed to come in as another veteran piece that the Golden State Warriors could effectively pair with superstar guard Stephen Curry, but that hasn't exactly been the case through the first 17 games of the season.
The fit between Curry and Horford was supposed to be seamless, yet the veteran's center ability to play off the 2x MVP is a growing problem that needs to be addressed as the Warriors slip to an 9-8 record.
Al Horford hasn't proven effective next to Stephen Curry just yet
Horford hasn't quite reached expectations since his notable free agency acquisition, but that's particularly the case when he plays with Curry. The 39-year-old has a true shooting percentage of 51.7% in the 117 minutes he's played without Curry, yet that falls significantly to 40.6% in the 126 minutes they've played together.
Beyond that, Golden State are just clearly a much better team right now when the veteran pair are split up. The Warriors are outscored by 14.2 points per 75 possessions when Curry and Horford are on the floor -- compare that to the team being a +0.9 when Horford plays without Curry, and +9.2 vice versa.
Horford's currently averaging a career-low 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in his 11 games with the Warriors, having not been aided by the team's league-leading number of back-to-backs which has prevented any level of rhythm and continuity.
The good news for Horford and Golden State is that they only have one back-to-back before their Christmas Day game against the Dallas Mavericks. That means that, barring injury, the 5x All-Star should play in 11 of the next 12 games which includes eight at home at Chase Center.
This presents the first real opportunity for Horford to find a groove at his new team, having made the difficult decision to leave the Boston Celtics to sign a two-year, $12 million with Golden State in free agency. More specifically, it provides a chance to integrate more effectively alongside Curry in a way the franchise had and still envisages.
Needless to say that if you can't play with Curry, you really can't play with this team. There should still be confidence that Curry and Horford work out their pairing together to make it an effective partnership within the team environment, but it needs to happen sooner rather than later to ensure the Warriors push up into a solidified top six spot in the Western Conference.