Injury Report: Atlanta Hawks vs Minnesota Timberwolves
The Hawks have two regular season games left and one of them is tomorrow night on the road vs the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are vying for one of the top spots in the Western Conference. Heading into their matchup in Minnesota, the Hawks released their injury report and there were some notable things that stood out.
AJ Griffin (right ankle sprain) has been upgraded to questionable for tomorrow. Griffin has not played much this season for the Hawks, but it would be interesting to see how they handle him if he is able to go. Dejounte Murray (right quad contusion) is also questionable for tomorrow’s game
Minnesota might be getting one of their best players back for tomorrow. According to multiple reports, Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to make his return tomorrow night for the Timberwolves.
The Hawks provided two big updates today on on two of their best players, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu.
“Forward Jalen Johnson left Tuesday’s game vs. Miami with a right ankle sprain. An MRI taken yesterday at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex revealed a Grade 2 lateral ankle sprain. He will be re-evaluated in approximately three weeks.
Center Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe sprain) underwent a non-surgical procedure on Tuesday at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute to address ongoing inflammation in his left big toe. He will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.”
This is huge news for Atlanta and it might mean that we have seen the last of Johnson and Okongwu for the rest of the season. Given the timelines for both players, the Hawks would not only need to win both play-in games to get into the playoffs but would likely have to win a series for both to possibly come back. Given that their opponent would be the Celtics, that is a very unlikely scenario.
This is unfortunate for both players because they were both playing well, especially Johnson. They have both been battling injuries this season and the Hawks are going to have some things to figure out ahead of next week’s play-in matchups.
