CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Hawks will face the Hornets on Wednesday without not only one but two of their centers.
The Hawks provided updates Tuesday afternoon on starting center Clint Capela and backup big man Onyeka Okongwu.
The team shared that Capela will miss Wednesday’s game as he continues to rehab a left adductor strain. It added that it expects Capela to return to practice next week following the All-Star break.
Capela has missed the past five games, and the Hawks have leaned on Okongwu in his absence. But Okongwu left Monday’s game against the Bulls with just over four minutes left to play.
The team revealed that the fourth-year center had an X-ray at State Farm Arena on Monday, as well as an MRI at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex on Tuesday. Doctors diagnosed him with a left big toe sprain. The team will re-evaluate him in 7-10 days.
This will be the second time in three games in which the Hawks have not had two centers available to play. They faced the Rockets on Saturday with just Okongwu as their lone true center. The team did not have Capela, as well as Bruno Fernando, who dealt with an illness.
Fernando returned to the rotation Monday against the Bulls, but played only 11 minutes.
The Hawks also have injuries to a couple of their wings. Both AJ Griffin and Wesley Matthews will not play because each is dealing with an illness.
Rookie Mouhamed Gueye remains with a low right back stress fracture.
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