With numerous injuries to the backcourt, the Hawks will once again shuffle their lineup as Jeff Teague, John Jenkins, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Zaza Pachulia will start in this afternoon's game against the Timberwolves. For Jenkins, it will be his first career start and talking with him in the locker room before the game he says he's excited and a little bit nervous about it, but he's ready to go. Jenkins has experienced it all in his rookie year, from being at the very end of the bench to the D-League to the reserve unit and now to the starting lineup.
Drew wanted to match-up with Minnesota's size on the wing and speed in the backcourt which is why he went with the bigger lineup and Jenkins. He wanted Smith guarding Andrei Kirilenko because of his length and felt Al could bother Derrick Williams with his length. Atlanta has brought in Jannero Pargo on a 10-day contract, and Pargo is dressed and available today and Larry Drew says he will get minutes although he's unsure how many he will play. Atlanta is trying to weather this stretch where they are injured and today will be without Lou Williams (torn ACL), DeShawn Stevenson (knee), Anthony Morrow (back/hip), and Devin Harris (ankle). Devin and DeShawn might play Wednesday as both are day-to-day, but the Hawks want to see them practice before playing them in a game.