Hawks’ Williams may miss rest of series

Win or lose this first-round playoff series, the Hawks likely will have to do it without starting small forward Marvin Williams.

He missed his third consecutive game Wednesday night at Philips Arena, and both he and Hawks coach Mike Woodson acknowledged that Williams’ sprained right wrist “will probably” cost him the remainder of the series.

Woodson said the fact that Williams can’t use his right hand on either end of the floor prevents Woodson from using him in any capacity.

When asked if he thought Williams would see the floor before the end of the series, Woodson was glib. “Probably not,” he said. “We have to concentrate on getting him healthy for whatever lies ahead.”

Williams tried to work with his right hand Tuesday and air-balled three free throws. He was on the floor in practice gear for Wednesday morning’s shootaround, but he worked exclusively with his left hand.

“For me, if I can’t be effective, I almost feel like I’d be doing more damage than good trying to play,” Williams said. “I can barely dribble right now.”

With veteran Mo Evans entrenched in the lineup in his place, Woodson said the Hawks would try to finish the series without Williams.

“He still can’t shoot,” Woodson said. “We’re going to wait on him. And we have managed without him, which is a testament to his teammates. I’ve always said, when our backs are against the wall, somebody seems to step up out of nowhere and good things happen for our ball club to help us win.

“And these guys are hungry, man. We earned the right to get to this point, and our guys are going to fight to the finish, no matter who is in uniform.”