The Hawks may run out of ink writing their injury report.
The Hawks played at the Spurs on Saturday night without Josh Smith (knee), Al Horford (hamstring), Devin Harris (toe) and Kyle Korver (non-disclosed). DeShawn Stevenson (back-to-back games) also was unavailable. The injuries come for a team that already lost Lou Williams (ACL) and Zaza Pachulia (Achilles) for the season.
Coach Larry Drew said the team was taking precautionary measures with Smith and Horford, who are tied for the team lead in scoring at 17.4 points per game. Drew would say only that Korver is “banged up.” Harris continues to recuperate after having a platelet-rich plasma shot in his ailing toe. All the players traveled with the team.
“We have to focus on getting well, more than anything,” Drew said. “It’s been a difficult season in losing key players, in Lou Williams and Zaza Pachulia, and now we have guys who are banged up. It’s more valuable to have these guys as close to 100 percent going into the postseason.”
Horford dealt with a hamstring issue earlier this season and said it has bothered him lately. The center missed two games last week with a stomach illness.
“At this point of the season, I need to be good to go when the real stuff starts,” Horford said of the playoffs. “This break really helps us. We don’t play again until Wednesday (at the 76ers).
“I missed the two games last week because of my stomach, but that was actually convenient for me because I was able to rest (the hamstring). I still don’t feel like I’m all there, so these days are going to be good.”
Smith, who sat a game earlier this season with knee trouble, would say only that the reason he was held out was “precautionary.”
With the lengthy injury report, the Hawks started Jeff Teague, Dahntay Jones, Anthony Tolliver, Ivan Johnson and Johan Petro. They had eight healthy players, with John Jenkins, Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack on the bench.
“This is a great opportunity for some of these guys who have not been playing a lot of minutes,” Drew said. “These type situations give you a chance to see what you have as far as a bench is concerned. I’m expecting our guys to play hard and compete at a high level. I think you can look at other teams, other players, and guys have gone out there. Certainly we’ve been the recipient, on the other end, when teams have come into our place short-handed and have done well.”
Back in the saddle: Jenkins returned to the lineup — just in time — after missing the previous four games with a mild concussion. The rookie guard said the original plan was to sit until next week's game at Philadelphia, but he responded very well to three days of physical activity and cleared the NBA's concussion protocol.
“The way my workouts have been going, I was able to come back for this (game),” Jenkins said. “We are a depleted team, so I’m looking forward to coming back. It feels like I haven’t played in a month.”
Jenkins said he has suffered several concussions in the past, but labeled the latest the mildest.
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