Dennis Schroder did not practice Thursday but the Hawks remain “hopeful” the reserve point guard will be able to play against the Celtics in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series Friday night in Boston.
“Still evaluating him,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said follow the workout. “… He is making progress. I think we are hopeful (Schroder can play).”
Schroder suffered a left ankle sprain in the final seconds of the Hawks’ Game 2 win over the Celtics on Tuesday. A postgame X-ray was negative.
Schroder was unavailable to the media Thursday. The Hawks injury report issued Thursday afternoon listed Schroder as questionable.
If Schroder is unable to play, Kirk Hinrich would step in to back up starting point guard Jeff Teague.
“I think Kirk is ready and capable, and he’ll get the opportunity if Dennis isn’t capable (of playing),” Budenholzer said. “We feel great about that.”
Budenholzer said he does not expect to make any adjustments should Hinrich play, even though he and Schroder have different skills.
“We just have to tell him to shoot,” Budenholzer said. “Hopefully, the way we play there are other opportunities and other things become naturally emphasized. He is great at understanding and reading the game.”
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