Atlanta Hawks: Studs and duds from second loss to the Utah Jazz

Atlanta Hawks stud from second loss to Jazz: Kevin Huerter had a great night

One of the most unsettling storylines out of the first 12 games has been the struggles of Kevin Huerter. The 6-foot-7 wing is averaging 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists; all career-low numbers.  Things were definitely tougher in the early going for the fourth-year man out of Maryland.

He only reached double-digit points once in the first five games. During that span, he averaged 4.8 points on 28.6 percent shooting and went 3-for-20 from outside.

Since a one-game absence versus the Washington Wizards, he’s averaged 13.6 points, has shot 58.3 percent overall, and has gone 11-of-20 from downtown. That includes his 28-point outburst against the Jazz on Tuesday.

Huerter shot 61.1 percent from the floor and was 6-of-9 from three.

This marks the second consecutive good game Huerter has had from deep and he’s 9-of-15 over the last two games.

Hopefully, this performance — that evoked memories of his 27-point explosion in Game 7 of last season’s playoff series versus the Philadelphia 76ers — is a sign of things to come.

Huerter isn’t necessarily a great shooter but he is a very good one and the Hawks have certainly been hoping for consistency on the perimeter.

That his big game came in a spot-start for the injured Bogdan Bogdanovic may ultimately be nothing. But at the very least it seemingly allowed him to play a little freer. Perhaps he was without the worry of being called back to the bench for poor performance, though that hadn’t really been happening.

Whatever the case, the Hawks need many more performances closer to this from Huerter and fewer like those that littered the season’s start.