ATLANTA, April 25 (UPI) -- Injured Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford said Wednesday he won't be available for the upcoming first round of the NBA playoffs.
Horford, who underwent Jan. 17 surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle, said after competing in full-court drills Monday he determined he wasn't sufficiently healed to return.
"I realized that I'm not nearly where I need to be or want to be -- not even to give the team anything," he told The Atlanta Journal Constitution. "That's when we kind of decided that it was best for me to take some time off, keep working, see how I progress.
"But we are just not where we need to be yet."
The 6-foot-10, 250-pound native of the Dominican Republic has missed 54 of the Hawks' 65 games going into Thursday's regular season finale. He was averaging 12.4 points and seven rebounds per game before going on the disabled list.
Horford didn't rule out a second-round return should Hawks advance, the newspaper said.
Atlanta holds the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference entering the playoffs.
