Gustavo Ayon injury: Hawks center leaves game with shoulder injury

UPDATE #2: Ayon has been ruled out for the second half, per the team's official Twitter account.

Gustavo's night is done. He will not play in the second half.

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 19, 2014

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Update: Gustavo Ayon has checked back into the game.

Nevermind...Goose is back. Checking in now.

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 19, 2014

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Midway through the 2nd quarter in the game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, the road team suffered an unfortunate loss, at least for the time being.

Gustavo has a right shoulder injury. His return is questionable, per our PR team.

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 19, 2014

As noted above, Hawks starting center Gustavo Ayon was relegated to the locker room as a result of an apparent shoulder injury, and though there is little in the way of detail, this could be a disastrous loss. Normally, a player like Ayon wouldn't be considered to be "vital", but with the current state of the Atlanta front line, Mike Budenholzer would be forced into using some combination of Elton Brand, Paul Millsap, and Mike Scott against the much bigger Indiana front line.

More details should become available as the night goes on, but unless Ayon is able to return in the second half, the Hawks have a unique challenge ahead of them.