Hawks' Hunter sidelined at least two weeks

Atlanta Hawks small forward De'Andre Hunter will undergo a non-surgical procedure on his injured right knee on Tuesday and be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Hunter has missed the Hawks' last two games due to the knee injury and the team announced the plan for his treatment on Monday.

Hunter, who has started all 24 games he's played this season, missed three straight contests in mid-December but then returned to play the next three before being shut down following Atlanta's win at Houston on Wednesday.

He had an MRI on Saturday that revealed the inflammation.

The injury update means he'll miss at least six games, and the earliest he would return would be against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 10 in the opener of a five-game home-stand.

Atlanta will get Jalen Johnson back for Tuesday's game against the Chicago Bulls after he's been sidelined since November 25, when he sustained a left wrist injury. He is fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points.

Hunter is fourth on Atlanta in scoring with an average of 14.9 points, and averages 4.1 rebounds.

The Hawks have lost their last two games since Hunter's latest setback to drop to 12-17 on the season.

They are 1-4 when Hunter doesn't play and 4-8 in games he plays and scores 14 or fewer, compared to going 7-5 in games when he has at least 15 points.

An @emoryhealthcare injury report:De’Andre Hunter, who has missed the last two games, underwent an MRI on Saturday at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex. Hunter will undergo a non-surgical procedure tomorrow to address right knee inflammation. He will be re-evaluated in… pic.twitter.com/EmvVvrLMOj
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 25, 2023