Injury Report: Hawks vs Blazers
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The Atlanta Hawks are beginning their five-game road trip tomorrow in Portland and have just released their injury report for tomorrow night.
Jalen Johnson (right ankle sprain) is doubtful while Trae Young (finger) Onyeka Okongwu (toe), and Kobe Bufkin (toe) are out.
This is a slight upgrade for Johnson, even if he is doubtful. He has been ruled out for the last two games and if he is unable to go tomorrow vs Portland, the Hawks are going to be very shorthanded tomorrow due to the season-ending injury to forward Saddiq Bey.
Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are a better offensive-rebounding team by 7.4% when Bey is on the floor, which ranks in the 98th percentile in the NBA. His rebounding has been the most valuable part of his game for the Hawks and the one that will be the hardest to replace, even when the Hawks get healthy.
So what will Atlanta do?
Okongwu is going to be reevaluated soon and if he and Johnson can be healthy the rest of the season, that will ease the loss of Bey.
But if they are not, that is where the Hawks are going to run into trouble. The Hawks are not a team that has a lot of size and that is true when they are fully healthy. Vit Krejci has stepped into the starting lineup with Johnson out, but he has not contributed much on offense in terms of scoring and rebounding. De'Andre Hunter has been coming off the bench and playing really well, but he is still on a minutes restriction.
Garrison Matthews and Wesley Matthews are two other forwards who have played for the Hawks this season, but both have big limitations. Garrison does shoot 42% from three but is a really poor defender. Wesley is a better defender but is shooting just 26% from three.
It is a tough injury for Bey and the Hawks. Bey has worked really hard this year and gives maximum effort every time he is on the floor. He is going to be a restricted-free agent at the end of the year. The Hawks still hold on to the No. 10 spot in the East (the last play-in spot), but you have to wonder if this injury makes it more likely for the Hawks to fall out of the play-in race.
