Analysis: Al Horford shut down for 'at least a few games' with jumper's knee

The Celtics will be without their All-Star big man for at least another week as Brad Stevens revealed Wednesday morning that Al Horford would be shut down for 'at least a few more games' as he tries to recover from a bout of knee tendinitis.

Horford has already missed two straight games due to the injury and four of Boston's last eight games in the midst of what has been the worst statistical season of his career. He admitted on Monday that he had been battling the injury for about a month now.

"It’s hard because the competitor in me just wanted to be out with our guys," Horford said of the rest. "But I think it’s best for our group, for our team long term. I don’t want to have to keep dealing with this as a question mark game after game. I just have to listen to the training staff and what the doctors are telling me, and buy into that plan."

Horford played one of his best games of the season against the Knicks on Thursday night after getting nearly a week off to rest the injury but it 'flared' up on him again after the win, which led the C's to take a more cautious approach with the recovery. He'll spend the next couple weeks doing plenty of therapy to help accelerate the rehab and doubts surgery will be necessary to fully heal.

"Just strength work for the leg, that’s going to help with that," he said. "A lot of treatment on it and also some rest, but yeah, the strength work and the training, it’s the bulk of it. We’ve been rolling two or three times a day with that, and just try to speed the process up as much as we can."

Horford has never dealt with any kind of knee tendinitis issue before.

"When I was in high school I had a lot of (knee pain)," he said on Monday. "They said it was because I was growing. Growing pains type of thing. I’ve never dealt with that. I’ve been very fortunate. This is new for me."

BSJ Analysis

We've been calling for this for a week or so now here at BSJ, so it's encouraging to see the Celtics training staff take the long view with the ailment here.

To start, Horford just has not looked like himself all year long. He's been a step slow at times in the pick-and-roll defense, which makes much more sense now with this injury diagnosis. Containing the likes of Kemba Walker and Devin Booker is tough enough as it is, doing so on a bad wheel will make you look bad.

Horford's other numbers (3-point shooting, rebounding rate) are also lingering near career lows, so there's no sense for him to try to play through it when he's not playing his best basketball, to begin with. The Celtics have terrific depth on the frontline and Horford's absence hasn't prevented them from winning games handily in the past couple weeks so resting Horford now to get him right for the remainder of the 82-game grind is a kind of win-win for Boston.  He could use the rest at age 32 anyway whether or not he's hurt and the C's get an added benefit of giving the likes of Daniel Theis and Robert Williams some extended run in a bigger role that both are deserving of.

Theis is far from the player that Horford is but he fills the role of an ideal center for Brad Stevens, with his ability to switch onto smaller defenders, spread the floor with the 3 and rebound well. Williams brings a very intriguing skillset that we got a good look at on Tuesday. Getting them both more reps now could come in handy for not just contributions later this year, but also long-term planning for the team. Whether one of these guys is the center of Boston's future or potentially up their own trade value for down the road with more minutes, it's a nice luxury for this team to have.

The road will get tougher for Boston later this month when the schedule toughens up around Christmas (vs. Milwaukee, vs. Philadelphia). Horford may or may not be back by then but playing Theis, Williams and Aron Baynes (when he returns from a sprained ankle) will not prevent this team from winning games in the meantime. For some matchups, it might even help them, given Horford's struggles this year.

Other injury notes

Kyrie Irving will be back in the starting lineup tonight for Boston as they take their six-game winning streak on the road into Washington DC. The point guard suffered a bruised AC joint last week in a win over the Knicks and sat out Monday's game against the Pelicans to rest it but he told reporters at shootaround that the pain was 'manageable' on Wednesday morning and he will be back in the fold for the showdown with the Wizards.

Boston will still be shorthanded in DC with Horford, Gordon Hayward (illness) and Guerschon Yabusele (ankle) both not making the trip. Yabusele is expected to miss several weeks with his ankle injury while Hayward should be back in time for Friday's matchup with the Hawks.

Aron Baynes (sprained ankle) is still questionable officially but it would not be a surprise to see the Celtics stay cautious with him after missing a couple straight games already. The Wizards have relied on a predominantly small ball lineup over the past few weeks with Thomas Bryant served as their only true big getting regular minutes. Theis and Williams should be able to hold down the fort in the middle as the C's rely heavily on their wings to match up with the likes of Jeff Green, Kelly Oubre and Markieff Morris off the Washington bench.

The Wizards are expected to have John Wall back in action after he missed Monday's game with a sore left heel. Otto Porter Jr. is questionable with a bruised knee, as that injury limited him to just seven minutes in Monday's loss to the Wizards.

Here's an updated look at the C's projected depth chart heading into the matchup

G: Irving, Smart, Rozier, Wanamaker
F: Tatum, Morris, Brown, Ojeleye, Dozier
C: Theis, Williams