Studs and duds from loss as injuries pile up again for the Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks dud as injuries pile up: Kevin Huerter is going to be counted on for more
Kevin Huerter may very well have snapped out of his early-season funk. He’s still averaging career-lows with 9.4 points and 2.4 assists while shooting a career-worst 35 percent from beyond the arc. But he’s also shot a career-best 46.1 percent from the floor and played some of the best defense on the team.
The opposing team’s offensive rating jumps 12.3 points when he is off of the floor. That is the third-best mark on the team, but it puts him behind Solomon Hill and Dieng, both of whom haven’t seen much time in recent games.
On Saturday, however, he had just eight points on 30.8 percent shooting. He also went 0-6 from downtown.
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He did record a pair of rebounds and assists while coming away with a steal.
Huerter also held his assignments to 6-of-14 shooting while guarding the likes of Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, and Immanuel Quickley. But the Hawks need the points their much-celebrated depth is being tested for the second year in a row. There are clear reasons not to dwell on a single off-performance.
Huerter was averaging 14.8 points on 61.1 percent shooting overall and 54.5 percent from deep to go with 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists over the four games heading into the loss to New York.
It’s also a good sign that Huerter wasn’t less aggressive in the second half after a rough first.
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He will probably need to step the aggression up a notch with Bogdanovic’s shooting gone from the lineup for however long.