Rajon Rondo to miss at least three games with knee issue

Just 72 hours after announcing that newly acquired forward Danilo Gallinari would be sidelined for at least two weeks, the Atlanta Hawks revealed injury information about another veteran. On Tuesday, the Hawks announced that Rajon Rondo “will enter a period of rest and rehabilitation to strengthen his right knee” and that will keep him out of action for at least the next three games.

The Hawks did indicate that Rondo was “medically cleared for last night’s game against New York” but, with the period of rest now in the offing, he will not be reviewed until just before Atlanta begins a road trip next week. Rondo will officially be sidelined for two games against the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 6 and Jan. 9, as well as a home date with the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 11 at State Farm Arena.

Rondo has appeared in only two of Atlanta’s first seven games, playing 31 minutes in total. He made a substantial impact in his debut on Dec. 28, scoring 12 points and eight assists against Detroit, with a six-assist showing against Brooklyn on Dec. 30.

After acting as a vital piece of the Los Angeles Lakers on the way to the 2020 NBA championship, Rondo did not have a lengthy offseason to recover. As such, the Hawks have been open about a slow ramp-up in his deployment, though this would still be classified as something of a setback after he took part in two games and was in uniform on Monday.

In his absence, the Hawks have turned to Brandon Goodwin in a backup point guard role, with an uptick in usage for Bogdan Bogdanovic and/or Kevin Huerter with an eye toward secondary creation. Atlanta is certainly short-handed, however, with Rondo and Gallinari joining Kris Dunn, Onyeka Okongwu and Tony Snell on the shelf.

Stay tuned.