ATLANTA (AP) Al Horford had hoped to give the Atlanta Hawks a boost in the playoffs.

Now he knows that won’t be possible, at least not in the opening round.

The All-Star center said Wednesday he’s definitely out for the best-of-seven series against Boston, which begins this weekend. The Hawks will get home-court if they win their regular-season finale against Dallas, or if the Celtics lose their last game to Milwaukee.

”You obviously want to be there for your team and try to help them,” Horford said after taking some shots on his own at the Philips Arena practice court. ”But I realized I’m not nearly where I need to be or want to be to give the team anything.”

Horford, one of Atlanta’s key players along with Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, has missed most of the season recovering from surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle. The team has persevered without him, going into its final game clinging to the fourth-best record in the East.

All along, though, the Hawks held out hope that Horford might be healthy enough to give the team a boost in the playoffs. He was especially eager to return after his replacement, Zaza Pachulia, went down a couple of weeks ago with a sprained left foot, casting doubt on whether he’ll be able to go in the playoffs. Third-stringer Jason Collins has been filling in as the starting center, though he’s rarely on the court at crucial points in the game.

After practicing four-on-four Monday, Horford was optimistic about returning to face the Celtics. But, when he woke up sore and weak the next day, he was forced to concede that his left arm just isn’t strong enough to endure the wear-and-tear of a grueling playoff series.

”We kind of decided it’s best for me to take some time off, keep working and just see how I progress,” Horford said. ”It’s frustrating for me. I want to play. I want to get out there with the guys. I know what it’s all about. This is the time of year you play for. By my body is just not responding with me. I can’t do it.”

Even under the best of circumstances, Horford knew he wouldn’t be able to get all his strength back until the summer. But he tried to persuade himself that he had recovered enough to at least give the Hawks some decent minutes in the playoffs.

Realistically, that won’t be possible in the opening round. The 6-foot-10 Horford is already a bit undersized for his position, and there’s no way he could bang in the lane with essentially one arm.

”I have very, very little strength,” he conceded. ”The playoffs are intense. The intensity goes way up. I can go in and play with the guys in practice here. I might even be able to play in a regular-season game. But the playoffs are different. The way I play, to be most effective to the team, I’m not at that point yet.”

Horford is still hoping to play in the second round if the Hawks advance.

”I’m learning from this,” he said. ”Hopefully this will make me a better player. I’ll be much more motivated when I come back, I’ll tell you that much, whenever it is. I just have to keep working and see what happens.”

—

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

ATLANTA — Chris Paul limped out of the Clippers’ training room Tuesday night, his mild left groin strain causing as much pain as his team’s inexplicable performance against the Atlanta Hawks.

He took the blame for the Clippers’ 109-102 loss to the Hawks at Philips Arena, saying it was his job to have his teammates ready for a game that had so much importance.

Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro was upset his team didn’t play better, knowing it would have clinched at least fourth place in the West and the home-court advantage over the Memphis Grizzlies, whom they now will face in a first-round Western Conference playoff series. A victory also would kept alive the Clippers’ chances of overtaking overtake the Lakers for third place in the West.

Now the Clippers need to beat New York on Wednesday night in their regular-season finale or hope Memphis loses to Orlando on Thursday to host the playoff opener against the Grizzlies at Staples Center this weekend.

And the Clippers will need to do it with Paul not being 100%.

He had 34 points against the Hawks and Blake Griffin scored 36, his season high.

The Clippers official listed Paul as questionable for Wednesday.

“I’m all right,” Paul said. “At some point, something didn’t feel right, but I’ll be OK. I’ll be ready to go as soon as they throw that all up.”

Asked to rate his team’s effort, Del Negro wasn’t OK with it.

“From the start, I didn’t think we were hungry,” Del Negro said. “I didn’t think we were physical. I don’t think we played hard enough.”

The Hawks were up for the challenge, knowing they needed to beat the Clippers and Orlando for a chance to clinch home-court advantage against Boston in the playoffs. Atlanta got 28 points from Joe Johnson to make sure it had a chance to start the playoffs at home.

The Clippers can’t overtake the Lakers because they are one game behind and lost the season series, 2-1.

“It’s unfortunate because you’d think we’d come out with a little more of a sense of urgency knowing how big this game was. It was a big game for them, too,” Paul said. “I take that responsibility. That’s my fault for allowing us to come out that flat. But, I guess we just made it real interesting.”

It was the Clippers as a team who played such poor defense, allowing the Hawks to make 50% of their shots, 45.8% (11 for 24) of their three-pointers.

It was the Clippers as a team who got outrebounded, 42-35. It was the Clippers as a team who fell behind by 13 points in the fourth quarter.

It was the Clippers as a team who waited until the fourth quarter to make a push, shooting 50% from the field, pressuring the Hawks just enough to get to within four points late.

“It starts with me,” Paul said. “If I come out and let us do that, then it’s my fault. So I’ve got to do better.

“It was not complacency. It’s just probably lack of focus, of which we had talked about all day, all before the game. It was one of those things where we talked about it but we weren’t proactive with the situation.”

Because the Clippers (40-25) won the season series, 2-1, over the Grizzlies, they would get home court over Memphis in the playoffs even if the teams finish the season with the same record.

Memphis (40-25) finishes at home against the Magic.

“Memphis it is, then,” Paul said. “Tomorrow we’ve got to win so we make sure we have home court. The good thing about it is we still control our own destiny.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

twitter.com/BA_Turner

Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Philips Arena

Records: Pistons 23-38 (fourth
in Central); Hawks 36-25 (second in Southeast).

Last game: The Pistons outscored
the Cleveland Cavaliers 39-12 in the third quarter, led by 50 points
going into the fourth quarter, and shot 60 percent for the game
Tuesday, in a season-best 39-point blowout, 116-77. The Hawks got a
career-high 21 points from Ivan Johnson on Monday in Toronto, and
beat the Raptors, 109-87.

Pistons probable starters:
Austin Daye, 6-11, 200 (Gonzaga); Jason Maxiell, 6-7, 260
(Cincinnati); Greg Monroe, 6-11, 250 (Georgetown); Rodney Stuckey,
6-5, 205 (Eastern Washington); Brandon Knight, 6-3, 189 (Kentucky).

Hawks probable starters: Joe
Johnson, 6-7, 240 (Arkansas); Josh Smith, 6-9, 225 (Mouth of Wilson,
Va., Oak Hill Academy); Jason Collins, 7-0, 255 (Stanford); Kirk
Hinrich, 6-4, 190 (Kansas); Jeff Teague, 6-2, 181 (Wake Forest).

Fast
facts: The teams play for the fourth and final time, with the
Hawks holding a 2-1 season series lead. … The Hawks won the most
recent meeting 101-96 on April 6 here. … The teams split a pair of
meetings in Auburn Hills, with the Pistons winning 86-85 on March 9
and the Hawks winning 107-101 in overtime on Jan. 27. … Center Zaza
Pachulia has been starting most of the season for injured Al Horford
(left pectoral surgery), but is suffering from a sprained left foot
and won’t play. … For the Pistons, Daye starts, Tayshaun Prince won’t play, Ben Wallace is inactive, and Vernon Macklin is active and will play backup power forward. … The Hawks are the fourth-place team in the
Eastern Conference and would play a first-round playoff series
against the red-hot Boston Celtics if the season ended today. … The
Hawks are 34-5 when scoring 90-plus points. … The Pistons play the
second game of a back-to-back-to-back tonight, with the finale
Thursday at home against Minnesota.

Frank-ly speaking:
“Unfortunate circumstance. Not the first time it’s happened, and
it won’t be the last. That doesn’t make it easy on anyone. But at
the end of the day, that’s my job. You’ve got to make those
decisions. They’re not easy ones but that’s what you’ve got to do.”
– Lawrence Frank, on the
decision to keep Charlie Villanueva out of the rotation most of the
season, even after one of the Pistons’ highest-paid players returned
from a lengthy absence with an ankle injury.

TV:
Fox Sports Detroit

Email David Mayo
at dmayo@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at
twitter.com/David_Mayo

Instant replay

at Philips Arena, Atlanta

What happened: The Pistons held a three-point lead with 7:29 left but faltered down the stretch. They are now assured the franchise’s fourth consecutive losing season. They are almost assuredly headed to their third straight off-season without a playoff appearance. But as Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said a few days ago, the Pistons are giving themselves a chance to win on a nightly basis. However, they couldn’t overcome Jeff Teague and Josh Smith. Teague controlled the action with 17 points in the first half on his way to a 24-point, 11-assist night as the Hawks took a nine-point lead at halftime. And after a Will Bynum fast-break lay-up gave the Pistons an 83-80 lead with 7:29 left, Smith scored 10 of his 22 points — mostly on 20-footers. He added 12 rebounds. Bynum scored 15 points and was the point guard down the stretch as rookie Brandon Knight (13 points) struggled in keeping Teague out of the paint. The Hawks had 54 points in the paint.

Gritty Stuckey: Rodney Stuckey, who returned Thursday night against the Wizards from a left hamstring injury, re-injured his left big toe but gutted out 29 minutes and led the Pistons with 27 points. He was laboring late in the fourth quarter and removed himself from the game, but he only rested for a few minutes before telling Frank he was ready to go and he finished the game. He said he would be able to go against the Heat on Sunday at Miami.

The big number: 28 — the number of fast-break points for the Hawks.

Unsung hero: Hawks center Ivan Johnson replaced an ineffective Zaza Pachulia and bumped and grinded his way to 16 points and six rebounds.

Familiar face: Tracy McGrady, who spent last season with the Pistons, scored two points in six minutes. He dropped by the visiting locker room afterward to see his former teammates.

Overheard: “Nah, nah … we just got to put more into it,” Frank said when asked whether the Pistons needed practice time to clean up problems defending dribble penetration.

Up next: The Pistons are off today before the second game of their trip — a date with LeBron James and the Miami Heat on Sunday.

Contact Vince Ellis: 313-222-6479 or vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @freeppistons.

Bobcats at Hawks

7:30 p.m., Philips Arena

TV: SportSouth. Radio: WFNZ-AM 610

Josh Smith vs. Bobcats’ big men: Although Smith is a power forward, it might make more sense to guard him with Bismack Biyombo, in looking to match Smith’s explosiveness.

• Former Wake Forest point guard Jeff Teague probably belongs in the discussion for NBA most improved player. He more than doubled his scoring average from a year ago (5.2 ppg., to 12.5) and has shown he’s starter-worthy.

• The Bobcats’ 11-game losing streak is two away from tying the longest such streak in franchise history.

• Thomas has improved his last six games, averaging 9.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.3 steals.

• Celtics assistant Kevin Eastman once coached at Belmont Abbey.

Pierce is the only player in Boston’s rotation who was originally drafted by the Celtics.

Rick Bonnell

Read More: Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks enter Sunday’s game just a half game behind the Indiana Pacers for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers are idle on Sunday so with a win over the Cavaliers, Atlanta will move into fifth place because they own the tiebreaker over Indiana by winning the season series.

The Hawks and Pacers both have better records than fourth place Philadelphia at the moment but the 76ers are assured of a top 4 place in the standings thanks to their lead in the Atlantic Division. Atlanta is just 3.5 games behind the Orlando Magic for third place in the conference.

The Hawks have 22 games remaining in the 66-game regular season schedule with 14 of those at Philips Arena where Atlanta is 13-6 this season.

For more on the Atlanta Hawks check out Peachtree Hoops. For more news and notes from around the NBA head over to SB Nation’s NBA Basketball page.

The Atlanta Hawks have had some problems getting their offense in gear
lately.

They’ve had no such trouble piling up points against the Sacramento Kings
over the past few years.

The Hawks look to win their eighth straight in this series Sunday night when
they visit a Kings team hoping to build on an encouraging victory.

After opening a season-high six-game road trip with a win in Indiana,
Atlanta (23-17) has dropped back-to-back games to Miami and Detroit despite
having a good chance to win both. The Hawks blew a 10-point lead in the second
half of Wednesday’s 89-86 loss to the Heat. Jannero Pargo missed a 3-pointer at
the buzzer in that game, then Joe Johnson missed one as time expired in Friday’s
86-85 loss to the Pistons.

Johnson returned to the lineup after missing four games because of left knee
tendinitis and finished with 18 points for Atlanta, which allowed Detroit to
shoot an opponent season-high 55.9 percent.

“We didn’t do our job,” said Josh Smith, averaging 25.0 points in five games
this month. “We never let them feel us on defense.”

Atlanta’s also didn’t play well offensively, finishing with 35 second-half
points on 31.3 percent shooting.

Offensive struggles have been an ongoing problem for Atlanta on the road.
The Hawks, 2-16 when scoring 90 points or less, have dropped five of six away
from Philips Arena, averaging 81.8 points in those defeats.

Atlanta’s offense has excelled against the Kings, however, averaging 110.9
points in winning the last seven in the series since a 119-107 loss Feb. 20,
2008. Johnson, Atlanta’s top scorer at 17.6 per game, has averaged 24.9 during
that streak.

In eight games versus Sacramento since the start of the 2007-08 season, the
Hawks are averaging 110.4 points – their highest against any opponent in that
span.

Sacramento, though, enters this matchup brimming with confidence.

The Kings (14-26) are coming off Friday’s 110-97 win over Dallas, avenging a
99-60 loss to the defending champions on Jan. 14. Tyreke Evans and Marcus
Thornton each scored 17 points to lead seven players in double figures for
Sacramento, which shot 50.6 percent and hit 11 of 27 3-pointers.

“We did a good job of playing as a team. Everything was really clicking,”
said rookie Isaiah Thomas, who had 14 points. “It was just an overall great team
win. If we play together, hit the open guy and make the extra pass, we always
play a lot better. That kind of motivates us to play even better defense. We
just have to be consistent.”

The Kings are starting to play with a bit more consistency, having opened a
franchise-record nine-game homestand with consecutive victories following a 2-10
stretch. They’ve shot at least 50.0 percent from the floor in their last two
games after reaching that mark twice in their first 38 contests.

DeMarcus Cousins returned Friday and had 15 points after missing Wednesday’s
99-98 victory over New Orleans because of food poisoning. In his two games
versus the Hawks as a rookie last season, Cousins averaged 22.0 points – his
highest scoring average against any team.

Thornton, Sacramento’s leading scorer at 18.7 per game, totaled 17 points in
last season’s two games versus Atlanta.

This contest is the only one between these teams this season.