Speedy Claxton to return for Hawks’ home finale

Speedy Claxton will be in uniform for the Hawks Tuesday — and will probably play.

Solomon Jones, Mario West, Randolph Morris, Thomas Gardner and Othello Hunter are all expected to play plenty of minutes as well.

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Victor Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images

It’s been a long time since Hawks fans have seen Speedy Claxton on the court. They’ll get their chance Tuesday.

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Tuesday’s regular-season home finale against Miami at Philips Arena might not qualify as an official playoff preview, but Hawks coach Mike Woodson insists it’ll be far from a glorified scrimmage.

The Hawks and Heat will see plenty of each other in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series that begins this weekend. Neither side will show too much in what amounts to a meaningless game, as far as the Eastern Conference standings are concerned.

“How many minutes guys play is up in the air,” Woodson said. “We won’t play guys a lot of minutes. We’ll go into he game, not being cautious, but trying to rest some legs and get a good run in.

“We’ll get a chance to look at some of our bench guys that haven’t played a lot. I might spend a little bit more time with Solomon Jones on the floor, because he could become a major factor in the playoffs for us.”

Even if the Hawks were playing a team other than the Heat tonight, Woodson said he would have followed the same script.

“I wish Acie [Law IV] was healthy, but he’s not,” Woodson said. “He would also be a guy you’d give a lot of playing as well. But we’ll look at Randolph Morris and Othello and guys like that and see what happens.”

Having secured home-court advantage with a win over Indiana Friday, Woodson said he would use these final two regular-season games to rest his regulars.

For a team that scrambled its way into the playoffs a year ago, rest in the final days of the season was not an option. However, this season, the Hawks have earned a little breathing room. Still, the Heat will likely opt to rest their regulars as well.

“We’re still going out there with hard hats on,” said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson. “For however long we’re out there, we have to treat this game like we do every game. It’s serious business, and not just because it’s Miami.

“We’ve worked all season to establish our identity here at home. We’ve all done that, our starters, our backups and the guys that haven’t played a whole lot. We’ve all worked for this.”

Still, Johnson won’t complain if he gets a little a rest. The league leader in minutes this season (39.9), he should appreciate the reprieve.

“A little rest never hurt anybody,” Johnson said with a smile. “But you want to stay sharp and be on your game going forward.”

For Marvin Williams Tuesday’s game offers a different opportunity. He missed 16 straight games with a lower back injury before playing 12 minutes off the bench against Indiana.

“We had the same situation against Boston last year, when it seemed like an insignificant game because the positions were basically settled and they wanted to come out and show us what we had coming in the playoffs,” Williams said. “I’m sure Miami is going to compete like this is a regular game. Minutes might be limited on both sides but I expect both sides to go at it. And it should be a good taste test of what’s coming.”