Atlanta listed Onyeka Okongwu as questionable for Game 2 on April 20, 2026, with right knee inflammation, a possible blow to a Hawks team already down 1-0 in its first-round series. The Game 2 injury report came after Atlanta’s 113-102 loss at Madison Square Garden, where Okongwu appeared to pick up the problem but still stayed on the floor.
Okongwu finished Game 1 with 19 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes, the third-most of any Hawks player, and went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. His status now matters immediately because Atlanta is already without Jock Landale, who is out with an ankle injury, leaving the frontcourt thin as the series continues in New York on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
If Okongwu cannot go, the Hawks would likely lean harder on Mouhamed Gueye and Tony Bradley, though Bradley sat out Game 1 and Gueye logged just 11 minutes off the bench, finishing with three points and three rebounds. That leaves Atlanta with little margin for error in a matchup where its best interior option outside Okongwu is already compromised.
The warning sign was plain in the first game, where Okongwu was asked to carry a heavy load and did so despite the injury. Atlanta now has to decide whether to push him again with the series still at Madison Square Garden before it shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Thursday.
