The Golden State Warriors got off to a hot start in their 2025-26 campaign, taking down the Los Angeles Lakers with a convincing road win in Tuesday’s season opener. The Warriors are now looking to pick up another huge win on Thursday, as they host three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
Of course, the Warriors will have their hands full against the best player in the world and his new-look supporting cast, so they will need all the help they can get, especially in the frontcourt. Luckily, they will have veteran big man Al Horford available to help contain Jokic.
Heading into the season, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr confirmed that Horford will never play both games of a back-to-back and will have to decide whether he plays the first or second leg.
Steve Kerr makes it very clear Al Horford will never play both games of a back-to-back this season
The plan is to look a week ahead at the schedule in collaboration with Al and Rick Celebrini
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) October 20, 2025
The Warriors are already heading into their first back-to-back of the season, hosting the Nuggets on Thursday and traveling to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, but this decision on how to approach Horford’s availability was likely an easy one.
The Warriors are opting to have Horford suit up for Thursday’s matchup against the Nuggets, but will have him sidelined for Friday’s game in Portland.
Al Horford will play on the front side of the Warriors’ first back-to-back of the season tomorrow night against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. That would rule Horford out of the GSW game in Portland on Friday night. Moses Moody remains out vs Denver.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 23, 2025
The Warriors are set to have 13 back-to-back series this season, so at a minimum, Horford will miss 13 games in his debut campaign in Golden State. Of course, for many of those series, they will likely choose to play Horford for whichever game they will need him the most, and in this case, it is clearly their matchup against the Nuggets.
Oct 17, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors center Al Horford warms up before facing the Los Angeles Clippers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
In their season opener on Tuesday, Horford finished his Warriors debut with just five points and five rebounds through 20 minutes off the bench, but his impact goes well beyond the stat sheet. Not only is Horford’s veteran presence invaluable, but the Warriors have no chance of defending the Nuggets’ lineup without him.
Of course, Jokic is hard for opposing teams to handle, but now the Nuggets have another stellar center in Jonas Valanciunas as well. In Golden State’s season opener, they went with a small-ball lineup, playing Draymond Green at the five, and they simply cannot survive against the Nuggets with that same strategy.
While Horford, especially at age 39, is not enough to contain Jokic and Valanciunas by himself, his presence on the court will undoubtedly be a huge help.
Horford and the Warriors are set to face the Nuggets on Friday at 10:00 p.m. ET in San Francisco.
