Hawks’ Hinrich could miss Bulls series
Close personal friends of Joakim Noah are assigned nicknames befitting a Muppet.
At least, two of them qualified when Noah was asked Friday about the Bulls’ impending playoff matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.
“Kirky’s a heck of a competitor, so it will be exciting going up against Horfy, as well,” Noah said with a smile. “Horfy and Kirky.”
He was referring to former Florida teammate Al Horford (Horfy), now a Hawks power forward, and ex-Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich (Kirky), who played with Noah the previous three seasons.
The presence of Hinrich and another former Bulls guard, Jamal Crawford, is an interesting sidebar to this second-round series, which opens Monday at the United Center. But an injury in Atlanta’s series-clinching win over Orlando has altered the landscape.
Hinrich is doubtful to play at all in this series because of a right hamstring strain, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It didn’t look good Thursday night when Hinrich had to be helped into the locker room, then left Philips Arena in a wheelchair.
Hinrich was injured while knocking down a runner over Orlando’s Ryan Anderson with 3:06 remaining in the Hawks’ 84-81 victory. He hit the floor after making the shot and struggled to get back to his feet.
“It certainly changes things,” coach Larry Drew told reporters in Atlanta. “He’s our starting point guard. Hopefully he’ll be able to go. But if he’s not, we’ll have to make an adjustment.”
Hinrich’s value can be debated, but this much is clear — he’s Atlanta’s best perimeter defender and the closest thing to a true point guard in the rotation.
Second-year pro Jeff Teague, the likely next option at point guard, played just 4½ minutes in the entire Orlando series.
Tom Thibodeau missed out on coaching Hinrich, who was traded to Washington on draft night last June to free salary-cap room, but he raved about the veteran guard.
“Hinrich, he’s one of the top defenders in the league,” Thibodeau said. “Kirk has the ability to defend multiple positions. He brings a lot of toughness to the team, too.
“I have a lot of respect for him because of the way he competes and the stuff that he’s done over his career. He was in here (Berto Center) a lot over the summer. From a distance, you could see his professionalism.”
The Hawks traded Mike Bibby and Jordan Crawford to the Wizards for Hinrich on Feb. 23, and it’s easy to suggest the arrival of Hinrich helped Atlanta turn its defense around.
But the Hawks actually finished the season 11-20 in their last 31 games, so playing well against the Magic was a turnaround.
“I thought they played great defense against Orlando,” Thibodeau said. “They’re physical and they’re quick. You can’t turn the ball over against these guys and you can’t take bad shots, otherwise you put them in the open floor and they can convert very quickly.”
Crawford, who played for the Bulls from 2000-04, led the Hawks with 20.5 points per game in the Orlando series, while all-star shooting guard Joe Johnson averaged 18.0.
Horford piled up 31 points and 16 rebounds in Atlanta’s 83-80 comeback win over the Bulls on March 2. In the other two meetings, the Bulls won handily and built a plus-36 rebound margin.
Drew admitted the Hawks will have their hands full trying to slow down soon-to-be MVP Derrick Rose with Hinrich absent. Crawford thinks there’s a way for Hinrich to help.
“He knows their system. He knows their players as well as anybody,” Crawford said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He can definitely give us some insight. We’ll definitely pick his brain during timeouts and stuff.”
mmcgraw@dailyherald.com