In the face of injury, the Hawks will start a supersized lineup against the Nets Tuesday.
Tiago Splitter (6-foot-11) will get his first start of the season and play center and join a frontcourt with Paul Millsap (6-8) at small forward and Al Horford (6-10) at power forward. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was forced to juggle his starting lineup with point guard Jeff Teague and small forward Kent Bazemore back in Atlanta with ankle sprains.
The Hawks have used the big lineup at times this season with Splitter coming in as the first substitute of the game. However, the three have not played together recently.
“It’s a group we kind of have been wanting to look at, develop and grow really from the beginning of training camp,” Budenholzer said before Tuesday’s game. “It has done well when we’ve played it. I think, considering when you put everything together, it felt like the right thing to do, right decision.”
When asked if Splitter would play starter-type minutes, Budenholzer said “I probably wouldn’t go there.” Splitter played a season-high 23 minutes against the Knicks in the second game of the season.
The Hawks have been lacking in rebounding through the first 12 games of the season. Splitter’s presence in the starting lineup may help in that regard.
“It brings size,” Splitter said. “We can take care of the rebounds better, a presence in the paint, a little bit of everything. Of course, we won’t be as fast as we would be with a small lineup. We’ve tried it some minutes during the season. Let’s see how we do starting.”
Also:
* The Hawks could have inserted Thabo Sefolosha into the starting lineup in place of Bazemore. However, they play again Wednesday night against the Kings. Sefolosha has not played in back-to-back games this season. Budenholzer said the team would see how Sefolosha responds following tonight’s game before making a decision about playing him in consecutive games.
* Budenholzer would not provide further injury updates on Teague and Bazemore nor their status for Wednesday. He said it was clear they would not be able to play Tuesday and hence there was no reason for them to travel to New York.
“So it made sense not to get on an airplane and risk swelling and all the different negatives that come with travelling,” Budenholzer said.
Budenholzer would only say Teague is closer to returning than Bazemore.
* The Hawks have lost 12 player games to ankle injuries this season with Mike Muscala (four), Sefolosha (three), Kyle Korver (two), Teague (two) and Bazemore (one).
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