The Hawks are likely to be back at full strength for when they play the Timberwolves Monday night. Dwight Howard, Kyle Korver and Tim Hardaway Jr. are all expected to play following shootaround Monday morning. Howard and Hardaway will be listed as probable for the game. Korver was removed from the injury report Sunday.
Howard missed three games with back tightness. The starting center did not travel with the team to Denver for Friday’s win over the Nuggets. Korver (illness) and Hardaway (right groin injury) also did not play in the Hawks’ 109-108 victory.
“We are hopeful to have all three of them,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We’ll make sure nothing changes in the day but we are expecting them to play.”
Howard said he is eager to return to the court. One of the games Howard missed was a Timberwolves 92-84 victory in Atlanta on Wednesday.
“I got a chance to get some rest and heal up. … All teams always deal with caution. They want the player healthy. There is no need for us to play when we are not healthy. Bud knows (not making) some trips will be good, especially for someone who has had back surgery. Flying to Denver on a three-hour flight. Sitting on the plane. Not playing. It wasn’t going to be good.”
Howard is averaging 14.2 points and 13.0 rebounds. He is third in the NBA in total rebounds and first in offensive rebounds (4.7).
The Hawks bench will get a big lift with the return of Korver and Hardaway on the wing.
Korver took ill just before tipoff against the Nuggets. He also went through shootaround and pronounced himself ready to play.
Hardaway played just one minute against the Timberwolves before suffering the injury. He said he got hurt taking off to dunk an alley-oop pass from Dennis Schroder. Hardaway said he feels good and is pain free, not wanting to rush a return. He joked that he made sure he scored the basket following the injury.
“Dennis needs his assist,” Hardaway said with a laugh. “I wanted to get him his assist before anything. I was really concentrating on that. When I landed, that’s when I already knew. I tried to concentrate on getting the two points and the assist for my man.”
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