Hawks' Millsap out at least 2 games with mild shoulder sprain, contusion

The Atlanta Hawks can breathe several sighs of relief, because it doesn't appear the shoulder injury power forward Paul Millsap suffered during the team's historic Saturday night win will affect his status come playoff time.

Millsap has been diagnosed with a right shoulder contusion and a mild sprain, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The team hasn't announced an official timetable, but the injury isn't considered serious. Millsap will miss at least the next two games - against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday and Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday - before being re-evaluated. The Hawks will have four regular-season games remaining after that. 

Regardless of the severity of the injury, shutting Millsap down until the postseason seems like a prudent course of action. The Hawks have locked up the Eastern Conference's top seed, and have no hope of catching the Golden State Warriors for No. 1 overall. Any precaution they can take in the season's final week or so is a wise one.

In his second-straight All-Star season for the Hawks, Millsap has averaged a team-leading 16.8 points, along with 7.8 rebounds, three assists and 1.8 steals, while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from beyond the arc.