Gorgui Dieng, Lou Williams added to the Altanta Hawks injury report

The Atlanta Hawks (28-30) could be more short-handed than previously thought when they take on the Chicago Bulls as the NBA returns to action on Thursday. It was announced that backup center Gorgui Dieng was out for the game and away from the team while Lou Williams, who backs up both guard spots, is listed as questionable with “hamstring tension”.

Atlanta was already likely to be without forward John Collins who missed the team’s final three contests before the All-Star break in which they went 2-1.

Dieng’s absence for a “personal matter” was reported on Wednesday.

The big surprise is Williams who had a solid outing before the break with nine points and four assists in the Hawks dominant win over the Orlando Magic, though, he only shot 33.3 percent from the field.

Hopefully, injuries do not start to pile up again for the Atlanta Hawks down the stretch

Neither Dieng nor Williams have been major parts of the rotation over the last few weeks. Dieng has been relegated to spot and mop-up duty seeing just over four minutes per game over his last six appearances with nine ‘DNP’ designations to his credit in that timeframe. He has averaged 3.0 points and 1.7 boards in that span.

He has shot it rather well in his limited action, going 58.3 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Williams has been more involved, seeing over 15 minutes per contest over his last 12 games with some ‘Inactive’ and a ‘DNP’ designations of his own. He’s been effective in those appearances too with 6.9 points, 3.1 dimes, and 1.6 boards.

What’s best is he’s shooting 46.3 percent overall and a nearly identical 46.2 percent from deep.

Despite neither Williams nor Dieng being as integral this season as we once forecasted during the preseason, both have come in to give the Hawks solid minutes and/or timely buckets.

For the record, the Hawks are 5-13 without Williams, 10-11 without Dieng this season, and 1-3 without either available. There are a lot of other factors at play, like a lack of garbage time in tightly contested games. But that is still something worth noting as they prepare for the backend of the regular season trying to solidify their playoff standing.

With Collins still not practicing, the good news is that the Hawks are used to playing short-handed. The problem is we know that there is a very thin line between that and the wheels falling off – something the Hawks cannot afford at this point in the season.