Al Horford participates in five-on-five scrimmage

Al Horford is making strong progress as he recovers from a torn right pectoral muscle, participating in five-on-five scrimmages for the first time this year. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Chris Vivlamore (link above), Horford was able to skip the four-on-four game and go straight into five-on-fives.

"“I feel great,” Horford told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution following the workout.The plan was for Horford to work his way up to five-on-five competition. His progress has been such that he skipped four-on-four work. Horford expects to play in several exhibition games before the regular-season opener. The Hawks play at the Grizzlies Saturday. It would seem unlikely that Horford could play in that game with just a five-on-five practice scrimmage. The Hawks’ next exhibition games are at the Heat Tuesday and at the Bulls Thursday."

In addition to Horford’s progress, Kent Bazemore participated in the five-on-five scrimmage. Bazemore is recovering from foot surgery and took part in scrimmages for the first time so far in training camp. Last season with the Lakers, Bazemore started 15 games and averaged 13.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

_____

Adriean Payne breaks nose of Pero Antic

In addition to the health-related news above, we learned today–again, from Vivlamore–that rookie forward Adriean Payne was responsible for breaking Pero Antic’s nose in last Thursday at UGA:

"Antic has been out since last Thursday when he took the blow during camp at the University of Georgia. The next day Antic had surgery to repair the damage and has been out since. The forward/center, who sported two black eyes after the encounter, worked on the side with trainers during Wednesday’s practice."

_____

Stay tuned for the latest on the Atlanta Hawks as they proceed through the preseason in preparation for what should be an exciting 2014-2015 campaign.