Tim Hardaway Jr. said the right groin strain that landed him on the Hawks injury report as questionable is nothing to worry about.
The reserve shooting guard left with less than a minute to go in the third quarter of the Hawks’ regular-season finale against the Wizards on Wednesday. He practiced on a limited basis before the Hawks hosted the Celtics on Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday night. Hardaway was a game-time decision but was declared available before tipoff. He played 8:26 in the Hawks’ 102-101 victory and did not score.
“It didn’t bother me at all,” Hardaway told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the game. “I’m ready to go.”
Hardaway said the injury, which he called minor, occurred simply running up the court.
“There was no contact,” he said. “Just me sprinting and getting out in transition. It’s just something that happened. You can’t really explain it. Nobody touched me.”
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said Sunday at while Hardaway wasn’t on a minutes restriction Saturday he was wary about using him too much. He added after getting treatment Sunday all indications are Hardaway came out of the game in good shape.
“I didn’t want to have him go for a really extended stretch,” Budenholzer said. “I would say his minutes were not restricted or limited. But in the back of my mind, I didn’t want him to go a super long stretch. It would be a bit unsual in Tim’s normal rotation and Tim’s normal minutes.”
It appears Hardaway will be available for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday.
