The Hawks were uncertain Monday if guard Mike Bibby will play against Orlando Thursday on his sprained ankle. The team began working on its contingency, testing out rookie guard Jeff Teague with the starting unit. "If [Bibby] can't go, then I've got to go to Plan B," coach Mike Woodson said. "Either [Teague] or Jamal [Crawford] will start."
Woodson said Bibby was still day-to-day after spraining his left ankle in the loss to New Orleans Saturday.
"It still looked a little puffy sitting over on the sideline," Woodson said after practice at Philips Arena.
Teague, however, expects Bibby to play against the Magic in a Thanksgiving night home game, a matchup of teams tied with Phoenix for the best record in the NBA at 11-3.
"He was walking around here pretty good," Teague said. "He pretty much told us he was OK."
While Crawford has far more experience than Teague, Woodson suggested Crawford might be more useful coming off the bench as he has been. Crawford is averaging 16.7 points this season, second highest on the team.
ESPN calls
The NBA has informed the Hawks that ESPN is picking up its Dec. 9 game at the Chicago Bulls. The game was originally to be broadcast by Fox Sports South. The Hawks now have seven games on ESPN this season. Game time will remain 7 p.m. EST.
Next for Hawks
Who: vs. Magic
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
TV; radio: TNT; 790
Play Basketball Hot Streak and win prizes!
