The Hawk announced today via Twitter that Josh Smith, who left with 4:20 left in the 4th quarter last night, has a sprained ligament in his left knee.
Atlanta's Josh Smith has a strained left tendon and his status is day-to-day.
If Smith is unavailable for Game 3, then we'll see a lot of more of Jason Collins and Ivan Johnson, which will allow the Celtics to clog the lane more to prevent Jeff Teague from turning corners like crazy again. I'm not going to worry too much about Johnson and Collins jumpers.
That'll thin out the bench, too, which is already relying on Collins, Johnson, and Marvin Williams to make up for the loss of Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
Even if he can play, the sprained ligament will take away some of his athleticism, which KG will definitely test by playing up on Smith and daring him to try to drive to the hoop. Smith is already very willing to settle for jumpers, so any sort of knee issue may only serve to make him nothing but a spot up shooter. And while he can be very good that, the threat of the drive is part of what sets it up.
I already expected the Celtics to come out and win Game 3 by a healthy margin. A hobbled Josh Smith… or no Josh Smith at all… will only make the game that much easier.
By the way, Smith missed this dunk.
Update: Doubtful for Game 3
A person with knowledge of the prognosis for Josh Smith said the Hawks forward is doubtful to play in Game 3 against the Celtics Friday after he suffered a left knee injury in Game 2 Tuesday.
The person said Smith has patellar tendonitis with inflammation in the injured area but an MRI revealed no structural damage. If Smith misses Game 3 he likely would return for Game 4 Sunday in Boston, according to the person.
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