Atlanta Hawks: De’Andre Hunter will be so much better for Knicks court time
The Atlanta Hawks sent the New York Knicks on vacation after they took out the fifth game of the series at Madison Square Gardens. One storyline which has not received enough attention throughout this series was De’Andre Hunter.
The second-year man took such a leap over the offseason that he looked like he could develop into the third cornerstone of the Hawks franchise. Then, unfortunately for Hunter and the Hawks, he injured his knee, missing 49 regular-season games.
Hunter returned with four games left in the regular season, playing three of them. His first two games back, Hunter looked good but could not show too much in his extreme minutes’ restrictions. Then in the last game of the season against the Houston Rockets, Hunter showed a return to form with 14 points but also had five fouls.
The Atlanta Hawks eased De’Andre Hunter back successfully
More from Soaring Down South
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Grade the trade: Hawks deal Trae Young to Clippers in shocking proposal
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
The Hawks have managed the Hunter injury really well since he came back. There was an article recently by Bleacher Report writer Greg Swartz which highlighted the fact that he believed that Hunter was holding the Hawks back in the playoff series.
For me, this is an unfair criticism of Hunter. He was down on offense but every Hawks player except Trae Young was not the usual offensive selves in one or two games for the series. Hunter had three games where he scored 11 points or more out of five.
He shot the ball at 40.0 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from deep. There was not much to complain about at this end of the floor. Defensively he took a game or two to get into the series and then he locked in on Julius Randle or Derrick Rose, depending on who his assignment was on the play.
Next. 4 players who can't disappear during the playoffs. dark
More of then than not, his opponent would either pass the ball to get away from Hunter or miss the shot. He was back to his best on defense and was a key reason that the Knicks were not able to get going on offense. He will be so much better in the Philadelphia 76ers series thanks to the court time he had in the Knicks series.