The Atlanta Hawks welcomed back their second-year phenom De’Andre Hunter back from a long layoff due to his knee injury.. Hunter only played 18 games at the start of the season before coming off with knee soreness, playing against the Washington Wizards in Washington.
He then missed 23 games, undergoing a non-surgical and a surgical procedure to help correct the issue. He then made a brief two-game comeback before missing the next 24 games and undergoing another non-surgical procedure.
Ironically, Hunter came back against the Wizards, in the game where Russell Westbrook made history by breaking Oscar Robertson’s triple-double record. Hunter only played thirteen and a half minutes but was the first man off the bench after seven minutes of play in the first period.
The Atlanta Hawks got good value out of De’Andre Hunter
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In his time on the court, Hunter was able to collect six points, three rebounds, and a personal foul. He shot the ball well when he first stepped on the court, ending the game with 3-of-7 from the floor, including 0-of-2 from deep.
On his first shot of the night, Hunter faked to shoot it from deep before penetrating to the mid-range. Fortunately for the Hawks, Clint Capela committed a foul on a moving screen because Hunter missed the shot. As such this did not count as an official field goal attempt.
Two minutes later, Hunter took the exact same shot, faking the shot at the 3-point line and penetrated to the mid-range. He made this shot and was away. The next play down the court, Hunter took a shot with his foot on the line from the wing, making his second straight bucket.
Then at the start of the second period, Hunter went into the low-post, spinning and making the easy bucket. It was like Hunter had not been away from the court for 47 of the last 49 games. There was not much defense played for the game but his grade is based on his game impact for the time he was on..
Grade: A-