Al Horford To Miss 4 Months After Tearing Left Pectoral Muscle

The Atlanta Hawks have lost center Al Horford for up to four months after tearing his left pectoral muscle.

News of the centers stoppage came from a tweet by Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:

Hawks center Al Horford expected to be out 3-4 months with torn left pectoral muscle

Horford suffered his injury after being blocked by Roy Hibbert during his teams Wednesday loss to the Indiana Pacers.

While Horford will be missed by the Hawks he hasn’t exactly been having a career season, averaging 15.3 points per game with 9.3 rebounds and 55 percent shooting.

During his last full game on Monday against the New Jersey Nets Horford was showing true to form however with 14 points, nine rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block.

Taking over at the center position will be ZaZa Pachulia who scored 11 points with seven rebounds in 30 minutes during his teams loss to Indiana on Wednesday.

The move is a big one for Pachulia who has only had two seasons in his career where he has averaged more than 20 minutes per game. With ZaZa on the court the Hawks lose their shot-blocker and are left with a center who struggles to finish at the rim. They do however gain an aggressive player who may help them wear down opponents over four quarters of play.

Do you think ZaZa Puchulia will be able to step up and take over for the injured Al Horford or has his placement hurt the Atlanta Hawks for the rest of the shortened NBA season?