Josh Smith injures ankle vs. Hawks, but says he's fine

ATLANTA — Josh Smith came down hobbling after hitting a half hook in the paint at the 5:29 mark of the third quarter during Saturday night's Pistons win in Atlanta. Smith immediately hunched over in pain before limping toward the Pistons' bench where he met Arnie Kander.

Smith and Kander walked to the end of the bench where Kander worked his normal magic. Smith would not play the rest of the game, and the injury was a good guess as to why.

After the game, Stan Van Gundy confirmed that Smith did injure his ankle and also called it a strange thing. New athletic trainer Jon Ishop went to Van Gundy and thought Smith could've gone back in the game, but by the time Van Gundy wanted to go back to Smith with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Smith wasn't ready to go, that maybe he had sat too long. (And it is just the preseason, after all.)

Smith was walking around the locker room without a noticeable limp after the game and told Keith Langlois that he's fine. But it might be something worth keeping an eye on.