The Atlanta Hawks were beaten soundly by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second game of the series. The one benefit for the Hawks was that it meant that Cam Reddish had his first five-on-five action in four months. He was impressive in his first game back from Achilles soreness.
With the margin of the game being so large, Reddish was able to find his rhythm in a low-pressure setting during the Eastern Conference Finals. This is one of the only positives that can be found about the Game 2 loss.
Reddish got to play almost all of the final period and ended up with 11 points, scoring at all three levels. This is a good sign for the Hawks as they have lost their best wing, De’Andre Hunter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic is struggling with a knee issue.
The Atlanta Hawks should see more of Cam Reddish at home
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Now that Reddish has had his first action back, it should only be up from here. Given that he was running freely, Reddish was often the first one down the court in transition. This helped by either Reddish scoring or putting the question into the minds of the defense as to which player was going to score.
The problem for the Hawks starting unit at the moment is that Bogdanovic has lost this explosive running due to his knee issue. This has the impact of the Hawks missing out on transition buckets which is taking away the easy points that teams sometimes need. His shot has also been affected by his lack of lift.
Reddish can also defend Jrue Holiday at a higher level than Bogdanovic can normally. But with his knee issues at the moment, Bogdanovic is not even defending at his normal level. Reddish’s net impact on the game could well be a lot better than Bogdanovic’s at the moment.
Then there is the massive level of support he is going to get from the tremendous fans at State Farm Arena. It is much easier to play bigger minutes, gaining confidence, in front of your home crowd. This is especially true when you make your return from injury in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Reddish will be better for the time that he plays in the next two games. He will come back to Fiserv Forum a much more confident player and this can only help the Hawks.