The Atlanta Hawks must be feeling a sense of deja-vu. With De’Andre Hunter being out for the next eight weeks due to surgery on a tendon in his right wrist. Kevin Huerter also suffered tightness in his left hamstring during the Orlando Magic game and is questionable for the Boston Celtics game.
On top of that Bogdan Bogdanovic is also questionable with right ankle soreness which means the Hawks stocks at the wing position are a little sparse. They will be looking to Solomon Hill, Timothe Luwawu-Cabbarot, and Jalen Johnson to fill in the backup minutes.
Even if Huerter does play, he should not be in the starting lineup against the Celtics. This position should be taken by the former Duke standout. Cam Reddish. Named the biggest surprise for the Hawks so far this season, Reddish is a defensive stopper who can also play some tremendous offense as evidenced by his explosive start to the season.
Why do the Atlanta Hawks need Cam Reddish to start?
The Celtics are most likely going to be missing one of their best players with Jaylen Brown being out with a leg injury. This means that most of their production is going to come from their superstar wing Jayson Tatum.
While this matchup is tailor-made for Hunter, he is not going to be out there due to his wrist surgery. This means that Reddish is the best wing defender on the team. If he is able to make like hard for the Celtics star, then this is going to go a long way to securing another Hawks’ win.
While Reddish has suffered on the offensive end over the last few games, managed to connect on two shots from deep towards the end of the Magic game. This does not mean that he is back by any means but it does mean that he still needs to be respected by the defense which helps spread the floor.
In other news, Celtics starting center Robert Williams is doubtful after not playing in the second half of the Celtics last game, a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tipoff is a 7:30 pm Eastern.