Al Horford Coming Off Bench a Possibility with Kristaps Porzingis Out

Al Horford will play in one or two of the Celtics’ final preseason games, with three coming up over the next four days this weekend. He sat out during the first two in Abu Dhabi as he continues to ramp up from a shorter offseason, Joe Mazzulla said on Thursday.

Luke Kornet started both wins over Denver opposite of Nikola Jokić, posting a +12 net rating in Friday’s close win and holding the line at +0 in what became a blowout on Sunday. He scored 11 points combined on 5-of-8 shooting with 12 rebounds, four assists, one steal and a block. When asked if that could persist into the regular season to keep Horford in the bench role he transitioned to for most of last year, Mazzulla kept the door open.

“There’s thought to doing whatever makes sense for the team,” he said. “Obviously, (Horford’s) been great for us both coming off the bench and starting. So we just have to make that decision, whatever we think is best for the team at the time that we’ll do. It’s a credit to him that he’s open-minded enough to know that. He’ll just do whatever is best for the team.”

Of course, Kristaps Porziņģis took over as starting center for Horford last fall, and the pair played together regularly in rotation, including to close certain games. Moving to the second unit allowed Horford’s minutes to scale back from 30.5 per game in 2023 to 26.8 ahead of a playoff run where he took back over as starter.

More rest might be required this year at 38 after 2,315 between last regular season and postseason. He played more in 2023, 2,539, but had a longer offseason to prepare for 2024. Two years ago, another Finals run thrust him to 2,820 minutes. That’s 7,674 minutes in the twilight of his career. Repeating could require another 400-500 in the postseason if Porziņģis is healthy. So scaling back on his regular season usage as much as possible makes some sense.

“Obviously, a shorter summer (was) different,” Horford said on media day. “Starting tomorrow, we start working as a team and trying to get to work and start building everything back up again. For us, once Kristaps went out last year, we all knew we had to step up a little more and will have to play in different ways. There will be opportunities for different guys to come in and contribute. That’s just how we’re doing it and that’s how I’m preparing.”

Last season, the Celtics won all four games that both Horford and Porziņģis missed, though two came in the final two regular season games against Hornets and Wizards teams with nothing left to play for. Horford will inevitably miss back-to-backs again this year, which positions him to sit out at least three games through November and five into early December, when Porziņģis is estimated to return.

Horford started 33 regular season games and came off the bench 32 times, averaging 23.2 MPG in his reserve role with 6.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He fared better as a starter, shooting 51.6% from the field and 43.2% from three, rather than 50.3% FG and 39.6% 3PT off bench. Kornet averaged 11.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG and 3.6 APG (70.2% FG) in seven spot starts in 2024.

“Last season, there were a lot of times we’d do that,” Kornet said. “But I feel, obviously, a lot of confidence about myself and our entire group to find ways to adjust and keep trying to grow and win. I think it gives a great opportunity obviously for myself, but also Xavier and Neemy, being ready to step up and fill in and help our team. Just kind of figure it out one game at a time … nothing really changes, just what the position (is) and how much you might be playing. It’s always kind of the same goal at the road, whatever it takes to help our team win … looking forward to that new year and being able to hold yourself to a high standard, and trying to grow and push yourself.”