Tiago Splitter injury: Hawks center to miss game against Mavericks with hip injury

Tiago Splitter missed time early in the season with a hip injury, and that ailment has not healed just yet.

Mike Budenholzer announced prior to Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks that Splitter would be inactive as a result of the injury. In addition, Budenholzer added that the team would be closely monitoring his progress in order to attempt to limit his hip pain, and there is no immediate timetable for his return.

It should be noted that the Hawks are notoriously frugal with releasing injury information, but Splitter's previous stay on the shelf with the hip injury causes additional concern here. Though the 30-year-old big man is averaging fewer than 20 minutes per game this season, Splitter is immensely important to Atlanta's efforts on both ends of the floor, with the lack of a seasoned backup should he miss extended time.

Budenholzer indicated that Mike Muscala could see an uptick in minutes on Monday, though he prefaced with the fact that the staff could tinker with the rotations in using some unique lineups. The Mavericks enter the game with the second-worst offensive rebounding rate in the NBA, but in the last match-up between the two teams, former Hawks big man Zaza Pachulia tormented Atlanta's frontcourt to the tune of 17 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.