Marvin Williams Is Suspended for the First Game of the Season, Remember?

The Hawks' Marvin Williams injured his left thumb in the first half of last night's win over the Bobcats. It doesn't appear to be too serious -- head coach Mike Woodson afterward said "nothing's broken" and Williams himself said he could "bend it but not extend it," so all signs point to him being just fine.

The bright side is that the team played the second half without him, and apparently looked good while doing so. They were able to go with a bigger lineup of Zaza Pachulia at center, Al Horford at the four, and Josh Smith on the wing, which instantly paid dividends on the boards and allowed the team to go from seven down at the half to up five at one point in the third.

The reason that this is encouraging news for the Hawks, at least in the short term, is that the team is now forced to pIay without Williams, which will help them prepare for their season opener against Orlando without him. I had forgotten, but yes, Williams is indeed suspended for the first game of the regular season, thanks to this flagrant (but not homicidal as the announcers would lead you to believe) takedown of Rajon Rondo during last season's playoffs.