Tucked in between the Atlanta Hawks back-to-back wins was the announcement that third-year forward De’Andre Hunter would be out until January after having to undergo surgery for his wrist injury. It was just the second time they’ve won two games in a row this season. It is also the third time in two seasons Hunter will undergo surgery and miss a lot of time.
The immediate fallout has been in regards to who would start in his place, what this means for the Hawks going forward, and for Hunter, who is extension-eligible.
We got an answer to the first part as Kevin Huerter was tabbed with Hunter’s duties.
And the last part is an afterthought since he will play again this season. But it is imperative the Hawks get more out of him and fellow starting wing Bogdan Bogdanovic going forward.
Kevin Huerter and Bogan Bogdanovic need to step up defensively with De’Andre Hunter out
Huerter is having a rough beginning to the year. He’s averaging just 8.1 points per game, down from 11.9 points per game last season, despite shooting an identical 43.2 percent from the floor. The difference has been the long ball as Huerter, a career 37.3 percent shooter from downtown, is shooting a career-low 30.6 percent on his threes this season.
To his credit, things have improved since he was a DNP-CD a few games ago.
He averaged 4.8 points on 28.6 percent shooting from the floor and went 3-for-20 from three over the Hawks first six games with one start. That start was his only game with double-digit points in that stretch.
After being inactive, he’s up to 10.6 points in eight games on 52.2 percent shooting overall and has canned his long-range shots at a 41.4 percent clip.
Huerter has gone over 10 points four times in this stretch but has still scored single-digits in two of the Hawks last three games, including the win over the Magic where he had four points on just five shots, missing his lone attempt from outside.
Bogdan Bogdanovic was one of four Hawks to have at least 20 points in the win on Tuesday. Despite coming off of a six-point stinker against the Bucks, he has been a more consistent scorer than his new starting mate. He’s scored 10-plus points in four of his last five games and in all but four of the Hawks games this season.
What the two have in common has been their poor defense.
Neither would be described as a “lock-down” defender, per se. But both proved to be better than their reputations last season, finishing third (Huerter) and fifth (Bogdanovic) among returning players in defended field goal percentage last season.
This year, they are eighth and ninth among that same group of players.
It has been especially rough lately with each allowing opponents to shoot over 18 percent above their normal rate over the last two games. The Magic shot a combined 10-of-18 on the duo with Bogdanovic taking the brunt of it.
Again, neither is going to make any All-Defense teams. They are legitimately around more for their offense than they ever will be for their defense. Under normal circumstances, that is.
Without Hunter, both must take on added defensive responsibilities for the foreseeable future. If nothing else, they must regain the form they displayed last year when Nate McMillan would stick Huerter on the other team’s best player and Bogdanovic averaged 2.3 steals per game in the postseason.