Thabo Sefolosha Injury: Updates on Hawks Forward's Calf and Return

Thabo Sefolosha is out six to eight weeks after injuring his calf against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, Jan. 30.

Continue for updates.

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Sefolosha Discusses Calf Injury

Thursday, Feb. 5

Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution passed along comments from Sefolosha on the calf injury he suffered against Portland:

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Sefolosha told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday that he heard a ‘pop’ when he injured the calf. He said the injury occurred when landed after a jump and that there was nothing out of the ordinary on the play. Sefolosha described the strain as a Grade III.

Sefolosha missed 17 games last season, from March 2 to April 6, while playing with the Thunder with a left calf strain. That’s how he immediately knew the severity of the latest injury. That original diagnosis called for Sefolosha to miss three to four weeks.

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Sefolosha Ruled Out For 6-8 Weeks

Saturday, Jan. 31

Atlanta Hawks guard Thabo Sefolosha is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks after suffering a calf strain early in Friday night's 105-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, the team announced Saturday.

Sefolosha, 30, was limited to only two minutes after tweaking his calf early in the first quarter. He left without scoring a point and after grabbing a lone rebound. 

The long-term effect may be more pronounced. Kent Bazemore had to play 40 minutes in Sefolosha's absence, and the Hawks bench is awfully thin on the wing. Starter DeMarre Carroll will miss his second straight game Saturday with Achilles soreness, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and former first-rounder John Jenkins has played 79 games in his disappointing career.

Kyle Korver and Bazemore will undoubtedly be pushing the edge of their minutes in Sefolosha's absence. Jenkins will go from borderline irrelevance to an integral bench cog overnight. Also look for coach Mike Budenholzer to experiment with bigger lineups, using Mike Scott or even Paul Millsap at small forward.

On the surface, Sefolosha's injury doesn't look too serious. He's averaging 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 42.4 percent—not exactly inspiring numbers. But the ripple effect his absence creates in Atlanta's rotation may put its coveted winning streak in danger.

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