He still won't play tonight or tomorrow, but he's close to returning.

Josh Smith could barely catch his breath after his first full workout in nearly three weeks on Thanksgiving morning.

But Smith said there isn’t a place he’d rather be than on the floor working out with his Hawks teammates.

“I’d rather be doing this than running on that damn treadmill,” Smith said with a smile. “And that’s for real.”

Smith was confined to strictly treadmill workouts before Thursday, the result of the high left ankle sprain he injured in a Nov. 7 win over Toronto at Philips Arena.

While Smith won’t suit up for either tonight’s return bout in Toronto or Saturday’s game in Washington, he’s at least back on the court for the first time since the injury and eyeing a possible return to action in Wednesday’s home game against Memphis.