Williams could miss two weeks with knee injury

By Michael Cunningham

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hawks coach Larry Drew said starting small forward Marvin Williams could miss up to two weeks because of the knee injury he suffered Wednesday at Detroit.

Williams has a bone bruise in his right knee. He will be examined later this week.

"After the first week, it will be about how much he can tolerate the pain," Drew said.

Drew said he doesn't know when reserve forward Mo Evans (knee) would return; Evans hasn't played since the season opener at Memphis. With Williams and Evans out, Drew has had to go without a true small forward.

His solution has been to start power forward Josh Smith at the position with center Al Horford at power forward and reserve Jason Collins at center. At times Drew also has shifted shooting guard Joe Johnson to small forward.

Smith's move to small forward probably was the biggest unknown because of his tendency to take low-percentage shots. But Drew said Smith has improved his feel in that area.

Smith also must regularly defend quicker small forwards farther away from the basket. Drew said that hasn't been a problem so far.

Collins played just 114 minutes for Atlanta in 2009-10. The Hawks re-signed him over the summer with the plan of playing him more when the Hawks faced bigger opponents like Orlando.

“He’s a solid low-post defender,” Drew said. “You really don’t have to be concerned about helping him down there.”

Extra incentive

Horford said the five-year, $60 million contract extension he recently signed with the Hawks also includes incentives that could increase the total value to about $67 million. The incentive clauses are based on Horford earning various superlatives, such as being voted to one of three All-NBA teams.

Lesser evil

In an effort to diversify his offensive game, Orlando center Dwight Howard worked on his jump shot over the summer. So far this season he has taken more of them and is making them at a much higher percentage than his career mark.

Still, Drew said Howard shooting jumpers is better than the alternative.

“I’d rather see him take a 12-foot jumper than to post up in the paint, because I know when he’s in the paint he’s almost unstoppable," Drew said.