Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. and guard Vit Krejci both had to leave a 112-106 win over Orlando on Monday with injuries and will face extended absences.
According to the Hawks (Twitter link), Krejci departed Monday’s game with a lower back contusion. After he underwent imaging, he was diagnosed with a non-displaced lumbar fracture and is set to be reassessed in three-to-four weeks.
Nance, meanwhile, exited the contest with a right knee injury. He has sustained a non-displaced fracture of his right medial femoral condyle, and is set to be on the shelf for at least six weeks, at which point he will be reevaluated.
Nance was acquired as part of a blockbuster offseason deal with New Orleans for guard Dejounte Murray. Across his 24 healthy games this season, the 6’8″ forward/center is averaging 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in just 19.3 minutes per night.
Krejci, 24, is in his third season with Atlanta. This year, he’s averaging a career-high 6.9 points per game on an efficient .447/.384/.667 shooting line. The 6’8″ pro is also chipping in 2.7 APG, 2.7 RPG, 0.7 SPG and 0.5 BPG for the Hawks.
This is a big blow to the depth of the new-look Hawks, who have retooled their personnel through an active trade deadline stretch.
Without Nance or star forward Jalen Johnson, Atlanta head coach Quin Snyder will likely need to lean more on rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher and newly added stretch four Georges Niang.
Sans Krejci or Kobe Bufkin, Snyder will presumably give more touches to other backcourt contributors like Dyson Daniels, Garrison Mathews, and fresh trade acquisition Caris LeVert.
Start the tank
They owe their pick to the Spurs both this year and in 2027. Along with a pick swap in 2026. No point for them to tank for 3 more seasons.
the curse continues
they can actually deal with this though, due to their College Park roster. Vit’s a bigger blow imo, but we wanted to see Mann get more minutes and now we will
dirty play by Magic’s Isaac hurt Vit
Hawks are doooomed