On Tuesday, Atlanta ruled out Paul Millsap (knee) and Pero Antic (ankle) for
yesterday's game against Chicago as well as tonight's contest at Boston, but
they held out some hope that Gustavo Ayon (shoulder) may be able to play against
the Celtics. On Wednesday, Ayon was ruled out, putting the Hawks' frontcourt in
a bad spot for at least one more game.
Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer elected to use Elton Brand and DeMarre Carroll as his two starting big men, and it'll be interesting to see if that's the case again tonight.
Even if Brand and Carroll remain the starters, with Mike Scott serving as the lone big man option off the bench, Budenholzer may have to find a way to reduce Brand's workload. The 34-year-old eclipsed 42 minutes in each of the last two games, and probably can't keep that up for too much longer without the strong likelihood of joining Millsap, Antic and Ayon on the injury list.
Look for more minutes tonight from Carroll and Scott, and possibly the NBA debut of 2013 second-round pick Mike Muscala -- a skilled 6-foot-11 big man who can flat-out shoot -- to help preserve Brand.
Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer elected to use Elton Brand and DeMarre Carroll as his two starting big men, and it'll be interesting to see if that's the case again tonight.
Even if Brand and Carroll remain the starters, with Mike Scott serving as the lone big man option off the bench, Budenholzer may have to find a way to reduce Brand's workload. The 34-year-old eclipsed 42 minutes in each of the last two games, and probably can't keep that up for too much longer without the strong likelihood of joining Millsap, Antic and Ayon on the injury list.
Look for more minutes tonight from Carroll and Scott, and possibly the NBA debut of 2013 second-round pick Mike Muscala -- a skilled 6-foot-11 big man who can flat-out shoot -- to help preserve Brand.
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