Atlanta Hawks Josh Smith did not practice
Atlanta Hawks star small forward Josh Smith is reportedly day-to-day with a sprained right ankle, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Smith did not practice today with the ankle injury. Smith suffered the injury in yesterday’s 107-90 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and it didn’t seem like a significant injury at the time. The 27-year-old was able to play through the pain, but it was definitely a sprain.
J-Smoove should still be able to play in Game 2, because, well, he was able to play through the pain on Sunday. It could be that the ankle looks worse right now, and the fact that the didn’t attend practice today will make Smith a game-time decision on Wednesday. He has some time to heal up, and we’ll definitely know more about how his ankle is progressing by then.
The Hawks need Smith to be healthy throughout the series, and they might not have been willing to risk practicing Smith today after just spraining his ankle yesterday. It could be that the injury isn’t that serious, because health is always the priority in these cases when compared to practice.
At the end of the day, I think we’ll see Josh Smith suit up for the Hawks and play on Wednesday after showing up decently well with 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists against the Pacers despite the injury. He looked a bit more timid with regards to driving, but Smith did play in 35 minutes and once again filled up the stat sheet. He averaged 18 points, eight rebounds, and four assists this past season. He will be looking for a better scoring night, though, in Game 2.