Zaza starts for injured Smith

Zaza Pachulia got the starting call in place of injured Josh Smith for the Hawks Sunday against Oklahoma City. But he didn’t last long, going to the bench with two fouls after just two minutes and 40 seconds.

Depending on the matchups, Hawks coach Mike Woodson said either Pachulia or Mo Evans will get the starting call while Smith recovers from the high ankle sprain he suffered in Friday’s win over Toronto. Smith is expect to miss from two to four weeks.

Evans started the season opener against Orlando, when Marvin Williams sat out serving a one-game suspension. Woodson said his team needed more size Sunday.

“With Zaza in there we can move Al [Horford] to power forward and keep Marvin at small forward,” Woodson said. “I don’t think it would be fair to Marvin to play him at power forward.”

No news, good news?:

Smith is not with the team on this week’s road trip. He stayed in Atlanta for daily treatments on his left ankle.

Woodson said Smith’s status hasn’t changed since the initial report of two to four weeks.

“Josh is usually pretty quick to heal,” Woodson said. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see him back in a couple of weeks. But right now, we just don’t know.

Rim shots

The Hawks missed at least a dozen wide-open shots in the first half Sunday, shots that they made routinely in the first four games.

A half dozen of those misses came at the rim, where Joe Johnson (4-for-12) and Flip Murray (2-for-5) were victims of the unkind bounces.

The Hawks shot just 37 percent (14-for-38) from the floor in the half and held the Thunder to just 37 percent (18-for-48), but trailed at halftime, 41-38, for the first time this season.

The Hawks had a particularly rough time in the second quarter, making just five of their 18 shot attempts to squander an early 11-point lead. The Thunder also got a huge boost off the bench from rookie Russell Westbrook (11 points).