Beating the Miami Heat was never going to be an easy task for the Atlanta Hawks.
Beating them without Clint Capela is a markedly more challenging obstacle.
Capela will be out for at least Game 2 of their first round NBA playoff series after injuring his knee during a play-in tournament win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. Evan Mobley fell on Capela’s knee, sending him to the ground in pain.
There was no structural damage for Capela, a highly positive sign, and Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk offered the latest Tuesday during an appearance on 92.9 The Game’s “The Morning Show with John and Hugh”
“They’re going to reevaluate him on Friday," Schlenk said. "He’s started doing his strength exercises, we dodged a bullet there, there’s no structural damage in there. You guys all saw it, it was hyperextended, a small bone bruise in there, just got to get the strength back and the swelling out of there and hopefully we’ll get good news here this upcoming weekend. But he got it bent backwards pretty good, as you saw.”
Friday is the day of Game 3 of the best-of-seven series. It’s unclear if he’d be able to get back into game action as soon as that night in the event he is cleared.
Not having Capela means the Hawks are playing without their best rim protector against a team that boasts a star big in Bam Adebayo, but Schlenk was quick to point out that Danilo Gallinari and John Collins, though most certainly different players than Capela, will have to be among those to help soften that blow.
The Hawks definitely dodged a bullet in that there was no structural damage, which means this shouldn’t be a long-term or career-altering issue. But whether his knee heals quick enough for Capela to be back in time to contribute to the Hawks-Heat series remains to be seen.
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