Kevin Huerter sustained a left shoulder injury in the Hawks’ 125-121 win in Denver on Tuesday, the Hawks announced Wednesday, and he will not play in Thursday’s game in Phoenix as they continue their West Coast trip.
Huerter underwent an X-ray at the arena in Denver, which came back negative, the team announced. He had an MRI done earlier Wednesday in Denver. Huerter will head back to Atlanta, and team doctors will look over the results of the MRI.
Huerter’s status “will be updated as appropriate,” the Hawks announced.
In the third quarter of the Hawks’ win vs. the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic was called for a foul on Huerter. He appeared to bump Huerter’s left arm as Huerter was making a passing motion across his body – Huerter flailed and immediately grabbed his left arm and shoulder. He held his left arm as he walked back to the locker room to get the injury checked out.
Huerter was diagnosed with “left shoulder pain” at the time and did not return to the game.
Huerter had missed all preseason with a pesky right-knee issue, which also led to a slow start to the season, but his production had started to pick up as his knee discomfort decreased (there’s nothing structurally wrong with the knee). He worked his way back into the starting rotation, starting in the loss in Portland on Sunday and the win in Denver on Tuesday.
In 10 games (exiting early in Tuesday’s contest), Huerter was averaging 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 22.5 minutes. Before leaving Tuesday’s game, Huerter was 3-for-3 from 3-point range, adding 11 points.
