Atlanta Hawks: Not playing Kris Dunn against the Chicago Bulls was the right call

The Atlanta Hawks almost had a full squad to choose from against the Chicago Bulls. The only two players still out were Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter who are progressing but still a little way off. This was a totally different situation from when Kris Dunn made his Hawks debut against the Detroit Pistons.

That night, the Hawks had most of their backcourt were sidelined with injury or illness. The next game, in the first contest against the Philadephia 76ers the situation was worse with Lou Williams having to start. Through it all, Dunn has played according to his minutes restrictions and defended at his normal ultra-high level.

Then, after the second game against the 76ers, the Hawks had a back-to-back. They traveled from Philadelphia back to Atlanta and had the game against the Bulls. The Hawks welcomed Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter so the rest of the team did not have to try and bring it all for the second night in a row.

The Atlanta Hawks first half could have justified using Kris Dunn.

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In the first half, the Hawks defense was being carved up with some good interior passing, despite Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine not playing. Nate McMillan could have been forgiven for trying to impose Dunn’s defense on the game, but it would not have worked.

The problem was that the player destroying the Hawks defense was Thaddeus Young, mainly from the post. Dunn would have been too small to stop Young, considering how his left-handed shooting was going. He also finished with nine assists for the game. He could have done a job on Tomas Satoransky though who was the best Bulls guard.

So, why then, when Dunn was healthy did the coaching staff not give him some court time? Well, the answer is simple. As he has just come back from injury and he is on tight minutes restrictions. If he is not needed, then sitting him out for a game where his body would be under pressure is a very good move.

Dunn has not played in a back-to-back since he returned from injury. Given that he had also just traveled, the smart thing to do was rest him, whilst in uniform so that he was available if needed. The Hawks have greater aspirations than just a win against the Bulls.

When they make the playoffs, a healthy Dunn is going to be way more important than any regular-season game. The fact that McMillan was able to coach his team out of the situation they were in was a key to keeping Dunn off the court for the game.