Kent Bazemore will return to the Hawks’ starting lineup tonight against the Grizzlies after the small forward missed the past five games with a right ankle sprain.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed the lineup change Friday morning. Thabo Sefolosha started the past two games at small forward with Justin Holiday and Tiago Splitter being inserted into the lineup with Bazemore out.
“It’s definitely feeling better,” Bazemore said. “It’s been two weeks. I eat my kale so I heal pretty good.”
Bazemore suffered the injury Nov. 15 in the closing minutes of a loss to the Jazz. He said the ankle sprain was not high but still extremely painful. Bazemore said he’s not fully sure what happened on the play.
“I went to drive,” he said. “I watched the replay and I just took off on the side of my foot. It was pretty painful. I had (foot) surgery two summers ago and that didn’t even feel as bad as this.”
Bazemore has appeared in 12 games this season, all starts, and has averaged 12.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 steals in 29.0 minutes. The Hawks went 2-3 in his absence.
