The Atlanta Hawks welcomed De’Andre Hunter back in the first game against the Washington Wizards baseball series. Hunter looked really good as the first man off the bench, playing a solid game, even though it was only just under 14 minutes of game time.
However, the Hawks have announced that Hunter will not play in the second game against the Wizards. This will then leave him available to play against the Orlando Magic which is the second night of a back-to-back.
Thanks to the end-of-season fixture, this means that Hunter will have two full days off between his first game back and the Magic game. Then he will have another two full days off before the team faces the Houston Rockets in the last game of the season.
The Atlanta Hawks need to win one more game to miss the play-in tournament.
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If the Hawks can win one more game then they will miss the play-in tournament which starts on the 18th of May. The tournament then finishes on the 21st of May with the playoffs starting the next day.
If the Hawks can qualify directly for the playoffs, which is extremely likely, then Hunter will get five or six more days of rest. This means that Hunter will get some practice time in but will not have the pressure on his knee which a game situation brings.
Hunter is likely to start one or both of the remaining two games that he will be available for. This will ease him back into the starting lineup which is where he helps the Hawks play at their best given what he brings to the court each and every night.
Hopefully, over this time, Hunter will be able to play more game time so that coach Nate McMillan can work on his rotations heading into the playoffs.