Midway through the third quarter of the Hawks' loss in Boston Friday, power forward John Collins landed hard after colliding with the Celtics' Jayson Tatum and exited the game.
Collins was diagnosed with a back contusion and did not return, though he said after the game that he didn’t think there was any structural damage.
Regarding his availability for the Hawks’ matchup with the Pacers Saturday in Atlanta, Collins said he will see how he feels in the morning and “make a decision from there.” Collins said he did not have an X-ray done.
“It’s just one of those things, I have a knot in my back right now,” Collins said. “Kind of stings, kind of hurts to move a little bit, but when you take a fall like that, I kind of expected the outcome.”
Collins’ status will likely be updated Saturday morning, but Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said Collins seemed fine after the game.
“He said ‘I’ll be alright coach, just got it on the tailbone,’ ” Pierce said. “So I’m sure it’ll be a lot of ice. A lot of that going on already, he was already dressed, but he seemed fine.”
The Hawks have struggled to stay healthy this season, with Trae Young and Jabari Parker returning to the court Friday after missing time. Young missed two games with a right ankle sprain and Parker missed three games with a right shoulder impingement.
Previously, Kevin Huerter missed 11 games with a left shoulder injury, and Collins himself had only recently returned to the team after serving a 25-game suspension for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA anti-drug program.
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