After a long journey home from Denver, the news was the same on Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith. There will be no MRI on what the team is calling a sprained MCL in his right knee and the Hawks should-be-All-Star remains day-to-day.
Smith got hurt when he banged knees with the Denver Nuggets' J.R. Smith with 7:45 left in the second quarter of Atlanta's 100-90 loss to Denver on Monday night. He returned to the game with just under three minutes left and was reevaluated at the break.
He spent the second half in the Atlanta locker room.
The Hawks can ill afford to lose Josh Smith, a defensive anchor,shot blocker and electric scorer on a team that faces a tough schedule over the next few weeks.
Although most of the games are at home at Philips Arena, they come against such playoff-bound foes as the Chicago Bulls, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Atlanta entered play on Tuesday in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Orlando Magic. The Knicks are perched in sixth place, 4.5 games behind the Hawks.