Paul Millsap will start tonight against the Pistons and said there are no issues after injuring his left ankle Monday.
Millsap left the game against the Trail Blazers for about seven minutes in the third quarter. The power forward returned to the game and has six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter of the 106-97 win. He described the injury as “hyperextended” after the game.
Millsap took part in Wednesday’s shootaround.
“No issues at all,” Millsap said. “It felt good yesterday. It feels good today.”
In other news:
* Dennis Schroder said he has not yet had his tooth fixed after losing a veneer when he took a knee to the mouth against the Trail Blazers. Schroder picked up the piece of tooth and put it in his sock and kept playing.
* The Hawks have watched plenty of film of their season-opening 106-94 home loss to the Pistons. In the game, the Hawks were outrebounded 59-40, including an astonishing 23-7 on the offensive glass. Pistons center Andre Drummond had 18 rebounds.
“We watched a lot of film, not recently, but after that game,” Millsap said. “The film was tragic. A lot of bad basketball that we are not accustomed to. … That was a don’t-play-like-this film session.”
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said he is not inclined to make any schematic changes to help with the rebounding deficiency. The Hawks are 28th in the NBA at 40.3 rebounds per game.
“Sometimes there are different things, whether it be the post or pick-and-roll, that you could argue put you in a little better rebounding position or positions to hopefully be better on the defensive boards,” Budenholzer said. “I think it’s more we’ve got to be aggressive, get physical, get hits, be committed. (The Pistons) are good. At some point, it’s also a strength of theirs and they probably wish they did something else better that they don’t. They are very good on the boards.”
* With a healthy Tiago Splitter, Budenholzer said the decision on the next big off the bench comes down to either Mike Scott or Mike Muscala.
“If Tiago is healthy, he is going to be that back-up 5,” Budenholzer said. “(Muscala) is unique because he can play 4 of 5. It’s hard to play all three of those guys (including Scott) off the bench. Sometimes you have to make a hard choice.
Mike Scott has appeared in the past four games, all Hawks’ wins. In the past two, he has averaged 14.0 points on .579 (11 of 19) field-goal percentage (11-19), including .500 (4 of 8) from 3-point range.
“The biggest thing is he is really working hard defensively,” Budenholzer said of Scott’s recent play. “And he is doing things that fit into the team concept defensively. He has really (done well) with defensive rebounding, being physical, getting hits. And even if he doesn’t get the rebound, our team is rebounding well when he is playing. That is something we have challenged him with. Then our offense, he has a good rhythm. The ball moves. He moves. There is a lot of motion when he plays. Really, he’s been good on both ends of the court.”
* The Hawks are 4-1 in the five games since Kent Bazemore was re-inserted into the starting lineup. The Hawks are 13-5 this season with Bazemore in the starting lineup.
“It seems like it feels a little better,” Budenholzer said of the lineup. “I thought Thabo (Sefolosha) has been great off the bench the last couple nights, maybe more. Baze has done well with that group. It seems like that’s in a good place.”
* Due to inclement weather, the Pistons were unable to leave Miami after last night’s game against the Heat. They flew to Atlanta this morning.
* Tim Hardaway Jr. and Edy Tavares will be the inactives against the Pistons.
About the Author
