Hawks News & Notes: Injured Hawks Progress as Timberwolves Loom

The banged-up Hawks are slowly progressing toward a healthier roster, but they’ll remain shorthanded for Wednesday's game in Minnesota.

The banged-up Hawks are slowly progressing toward a healthier roster, but they’ll remain shorthanded for tomorrow’s game in Minnesota.

Cam Reddish, who is currently progressing through the NBA’s concussion protocol, went through two workouts before and after the team’s film session that included spot-shooting and light jogging. He didn’t fully participate in practice and remains out for Wednesday’s game.

Bruno Fernando participated in 30 minutes of half-court conditioning, shooting, and movement drills with the Hawks’ low-minute group and will likely be questionable on Wednesday night as he continues to recover from a strained calf.

“He went through yesterday, I know he didn’t finish the workout,” Lloyd Pierce said. “So he finished the workout, still shooting, just getting comfort with the calf. Better today than it was yesterday.”

After having his shoulder re-evaluated on Tuesday morning, Jabari Parker has been cleared to progress to non-contact workouts. He went through shooting drills with Fernando and the rest of the low-minute group after practice, and most of his work over the last few weeks has been focused on conditioning.

“It’s been centered on just getting him back in basketball shape,” Pierce said. “So it’s kind of more basketball and obviously focused on conditioning. He’s been fine in that regard, now it’s just how much basketball activity can he do and what’s his response every day.”

Parker won’t travel to Minnesota or Boston, and will be evaluated again in a week to determine where he’ll progress from here. He has missed the last 16 games with a right shoulder impingement.

DeAndre’ Bembry is still recovering from right hand neuritis and De’Andre Hunter, who has missed the last two games with a sprained left ankle, did not attend Tuesday’s practice due to personal reasons.

Preparing for Minnesota

After a game on Monday night and a practice Tuesday morning, Pierce said he hasn’t yet begun to dial in on the Timberwolves, but will spend the plane ride to and evening in Minneapolis preparing for Atlanta’s next opponent. He did catch the end of the Wolves’ collapse in Sacramento last week to examine how exactly they blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“Only thing I’ve watched on Minnesota is they blew a lead last week,” Pierce said. “I just asked, from a situational standpoint, what happened in the last three minutes. Just something to learn from.”

The Timberwolves have lost 12 games in a row to drop to 15-34 on the season, and while Karl-Anthony Towns continues to produce at historic offensive levels, his defense, injury troubles, lack of offensive support has sidetracked what began as a mildly promising season.

Slowing Minnesota on Wednesday, then, will begin with limiting Towns and exploiting his defensive shortcomings. Back in November, the Wolves defeated the Hawks in Atlanta, 125-113. Towns had 28 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists in that game as Minnesota overcame Trae Young’s 37 points and nine assists. The two sides look notably different now – thanks in large part to a midseason trade between the teams – and Atlanta’s dearth of healthy bodies will put them a further disadvantage.

Tipoff is at 8:00 Eastern on Wednesday night.