In one of the biggest swerve jobs in recent memory, Al Horford may now make his return from pectoral surgery on Thursday in the regular season finale against the Dallas Mavericks. This revelation comes mere hours after Horford told Yahoo Sports that it wasn't "realistic" that he could return so soon and that he was probably out for at least the first round of the playoffs. Horford met with his surgeon on Monday and was reportedly 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."

So from being out of the playoffs to now making an appearance in the regular season finale. Horford could play up to 15 minutes on Thursday and if he has no setbacks would then be seemingly available for some sort of role in the playoffs. How effective he can be remains to be seen but given the Hawks current situation at center it certainly wouldn't hurt. With the way that this story has gone for the last few days however it may be smart to stay tuned.