Should the Atlanta Hawks rest their players who are listed as questionable?

The Atlanta Hawks are in the depths of the battle for the play-in tournament. They have a big cushion above the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards. On top of that, they have the second easiest schedule left in the NBA which means that they should easily qualify for the tournament.

There are a number of questions that face this team, namely can they get above the Charlotte Hornets first, and then can they jump over the Brooklyn Nets?. After those two are answered, they then need to see if they can get past the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Part of this answer will be whether they can win the remaining games that they should win, including the ones like tomorrow against the Indiana Pacers. The Hawks have listed John Collins as out which is due to his finger and foot issues. However, they have also listed Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic as questionable.

The Atlanta Hawks should rest their questionable players.

With only eight games left before the playoffs, getting injured players enough time to heal is crucial. This is the second season that Bodganovic’s season has been disrupted by knee soreness. If he can sit out the Indiana Pacers game then he has four days of rest rather than two. Then if the Hawks risk not taking him into the OKC Thunder game then he can get five days break which could be crucial.

Danilo Gallinari has an elbow contusion so needs some time to heal that without it being knocked again. If he misses the Pacers game then he also has four days to heal and the risk of the injury getting worse is minimalized. Hopefully, he will then be ready to go against the Thunder.

The goal of this is to have both of these players healthy for the Cleveland Cavaliers game. If the Hawks can beat the Cavaliers, then there is a greater chance that they can pass them in the standings. However, they still need to take care of the easier two games first.