The Atlanta Hawks will be without All-Star guard Dejounte Murray for the next two weeks due to a sprained ankle, according to The Athletic. Murray will join John Collins and De’Andre Hunter on the sidelines for a Hawks team that has been bit hard by the injury bug in recent weeks.
Murray suffered the injury during the Hawks’ loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. Just a few minutes into the game, he went up for a baseline jumper and rolled his ankle when he landed on RJ Barrett’s foot. Though Murray stayed in temporarily to shoot his free throws after the referees upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 1 on Barrett for a reckless closeout, he checked out at the next dead ball and did not return.
Without Murray, the Hawks went on to lose in rather embarrassing fashion, 113-89. That was the second consecutive defeat, and fifth in the last seven games for a Hawks team that is facing some serious early-season strife, both on and off the court. Murray is the latest starter to go down with a medium-term injury, which has left the Hawks shorthanded on both ends of the floor. Collins also suffered a sprained ankle this month and is expected to be out another week, while De’Andre Hunter has missed the past week with a hip injury; he should return soon, but no exact date has been set.
Furthermore, there was an incident involving Trae Young and head coach Nate McMillan that resulted in the star point guard missing the team’s win over the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 2. The Hawks said at the time that Young was out due to a shoulder injury, but a report from The Athletic later stated that after two parties got into a disagreement about how Young was handling his shoulder rehab, McMillan delivered an ultimatum to either come off the bench in that game or don’t show up. McMillan later categorically denied the claim, but the vibes are not great in Atlanta regardless of exactly what happened there.
The good news here is that Murray’s ankle injury does not appear to be serious. A two-week timeline will keep him out of about seven-to-eight games, many of which are against some of the league’s weakest sides. During that span they play the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic twice each, along with the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons. If Young plays well they should be able to at least tread water until they get Murray and Co. back on the floor, and avoid any sort of serious meltdown.
Still, Murray will be a significant absence for however long he’s out. Through the first 25 games of his Hawks career, Murray is averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field. His 1.8 steals per game are also fifth in the league.
