John Collins will reportedly miss three weeks with sprained shoulder

Update: The Hawks have formally announced the injury for Collins.

Atlanta Hawks forward/center John Collins suffered a left AC joint sprain during the fourth quarter of last night’s game vs. Cleveland. The injury was confirmed following an MRI today at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex. He’s expected to miss the next two-to-three weeks, and his status will be updated as appropriate.

Per a report from The Vertical’s Shams Charania, John Collins will miss up to three weeks with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder, injured late in Thursday’s loss against Cleveland.

This is the second shoulder injury Collins has suffered against the Cavaliers in his rookie season—he got tied up with Richard Jefferson during a preseason game in October and missed the rest of that game with a sprained right shoulder.

Collins did not travel with the team to Brooklyn for the Hawks’ next game against the Nets and Atlanta will be very short-handed at the center position while he’s out. Starter Dewayne Dedmon is already going to miss about the next six weeks with a leg injury and Collins’ injury leaves Mike Muscala and Miles Plumlee as the lone centers remaining on the 15-man roster, though two-way player Tyler Cavanaugh will step in for some minutes over the next few weeks.

Muscala is dealing with an ankle injury himself and hasn’t played in about a month and Plumlee just recently returned from his own injury, leaving the Hawks extremely thin at the center position. Plumlee was acquired from Charlotte in the off-season and will probably see significant minutes to show what he can do.

Stay tuned.