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Al Horford's Right Ankle Injury May Sideline Atlanta Hawks Center Vs. New Orleans Hornets; Marvin Williams Closer To Return

The Atlanta Hawks may be without Al Horford when they take on the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night at Philips Arena. The Atlanta center/forward tweaked his right ankle in the third quarter of the Hawks' 93-89 overtime upset of LeBron James' Miami Heat on Tuesday.

After the game, the injury was not considered to be too serious. But two days later, Horford is still receiving treatment on the ankle and his play this weekend is in doubt.

"Hawks will probably be without the services of (Al Horford) and Marvin Williams for at least the next two games," Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche tweeted on Thursday.

In addition to facing the Hornets, the Hawks will face the Charlotte Bobcats in the Queen City on Saturday.

Atlanta has been decimated by injuries this season, playing with its starting five in only 19 of 43 games thus far this season. However, on a day where they may have lost Horford for a bit, another Hawks player got a little bit closer to returning.

Williams practiced with the team for he first time since injuring his back on Dec. 29. The Atlanta small forward, who has missed the team's last nine games, will likely will need a few more practices before returning to the court.

Horford is averaging 16.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in 43 contests this season.  Williams has appeared in 30 games for Atlanta and posts averages of 11.0 points and 4.8 boards per contest.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.