The Golden State Warriors are set to regain Al Horford for their marquee Christmas Day game against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, with Steve Kerr stating the veteran center is likely to play after missing 10 of the past 11 outings due to sciatic irritation.
Horford will return to a Warrior lineup that's recorded back-to-back wins, leaving Kerr and the coaching staff with an obvious move to make with the 39-year-old as they bring him back into the fold and continue to manage him over the remainder of the season.
Al Horford must play more minutes as a power forward
The 5x All-Star was brought in to be the veteran stretch five Golden State desperately needed, yet his impact and production before this injury was underwhelming. Horford is averaging a career-low 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while shooting a woeful 32.1% from the floor and 29.8% from 3-point range.
Perhaps greater continuity will simply turn those numbers around, having been rested from multiple games early in the season due to the team's numerous back-to-backs. There's also another aspect though that could help shift the fortune of Horford and the Warriors, while also lessening the burden on the 19-year veteran physically.
According to Basketball Reference, Horford has played 98% of his minutes as a center so far this season. This is well up from the 40% he played last season, and 49% the year before on a Boston Celtics team that featured Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet.
Playing more double big lineups could allow Horford to take less of a burden defensively, and perhaps improve his efficiency offensively. Horford has only played 10 minutes alongside Quinten Post this season, and five minutes next to Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Both young centers have taken on bigger roles in Horford's absence, having each proven effective in recent times. Post has solidified himself as the starting center for the moment, ranks fifth in the league in defensive rating, and easily leads the team in plus-minus, while the Warriors have held a +13.0 net rating in Jackson-Davis' minutes over the last seven games.
Rather than take minutes away from Post and Jackson-Davis, perhaps Kerr and Golden State can experiment with more double big lineups. It's a blatant move to at least try, especially given this is an injury that the Warriors will need to be careful with going forward.
It could also help evaluate what the real pecking order with the center rotation should be, and whether the front office needs to make a trade for another big man as has been reported in the past week.