It has been quite a roller coaster ride of updates involving injured Hawks center Al Horford and whether or not he will return this season. A new report suggests that Horford could play in Thursday's regular season finale. Horford met with his surgeon on Monday and was encouraged by what he heard.

"You got to look for the people that have your best interest," Horford told Yahoo! Sports. "This is the guy that performed my surgery. He gave me the OK. I'm feeling pretty good about it now. He just said, 'You're going to be limited. That's all. You can go out there and play limited time.' That's kind of why I'm back in there."

That is quite a turn of events from earlier in the day. Horford told the Atlanta Journal Constitution over the weekend that he was about 70 percent sure that he would return during Atlanta's first-round playoff series. He then told Yahoo Sports NBA writer Marc Spears that he didn't feel that "it was realistic" that he could return in the playoffs.

So now it appears that he will see some up to about 15 minutes of action on Thursday against the Mavericks and then be available in some capacity in the playoffs. Stay tuned.

For more on Al Horford and the Atlanta Hawks check out Peachtree Hoops.