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Smith starts suspension as Hawks face Celtics

Apr 10, 2007 - 2:05 PM Boston (23-53) at Atlanta (28-49) 7:00 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Suffering through an abysmal campaign, the Atlanta Hawks now will be without one of their key players.

The Hawks will not have Josh Smith available Tuesday when they meet the Boston Celtics,

Banished to the locker room following an argument with coach Mike Woodson during Sunday's overtime loss at Philadelphia, Smith has been suspended two games for conduct detrimental to the team.

The 2005 Slam Dunk champion as a rookie, Smith is having the best season of his career. He is averaging career highs of 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.9 blocks. He is second in the NBA in blocks and 18th in rebounds.

The absence of Smith leaves the Hawks more shorthanded. They already are without All-Star guard Joe Johnson, swingman Josh Childress, center Zaza Pachulia and guard Speedy Claxton due to injuries.

Atlanta has lost eight of its last nine games.

It has not gone much better for the Celtics, who own the Eastern Conference's worst record and have lost seven of their last 10 games. Boston suffered a 105-98 loss to Indiana on Saturday. Rookie Allan Ray tied a season high with 22 points.

Ray had to step up with many of Boston's key performers sidelined with injuries. On Saturday, the Celtics were without their three best players - swingman Paul Pierce (elbow), forward Al Jefferson (knee) and forward Wally Szczerbiak (ankle).

Pierce has missed two of the three games with the Hawks this season and will sit out again on Tuesday. However, the Celtics posted a 109-88 over the Hawks in the lone game Pierce played on March 14.

Boston is 3-26 without Pierce this season.