The Atlanta Hawks had a difficult time over the last month with injury. They are down two starters and were without the key bench contribution given by Cam Reddish for a number of games. As a result they were bad at home losing their last six.
However, they flipped the script on the road, winning their last five after they had the worst road record in the entire Eastern Conference. A big part of why this was so was the play of their sweet shooting big man Danilo Gallinari.
With so many players out, Gallinari had to step it up for the month of December. This earned his the Kia Sixth Man oif the Month Award, per the Atlanta Hawks twitter page. This was on the back of increased minutes and a greater need for him to perform to help the team.
The Atlanta Hawks had so much bad luck, Danilo Gallinari was the shining light off the bench.
While Gallinari has never been a star on the defensive end of the court, he has put his heart and soul into helping the Hawks win. For the month of December so far he has averaged 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 25.5 minutes per game. Not bad for a player who could have been on the trading block early.
Gallinari has also been incredibly efficient. He has gone at 46.7 percent from the floor, 51.4 percent from behind the long-line and 94.7 percent from the free throw line. This has given the big Italian a true shooting percentage of 64.2 percent for the month.
While Gallinari has been really good off the bench, the Hawks need graeter levels of production from their other players who are all looking to come back over the next few weeeks, with the exception of Solomon Hill who is out for the season.
If the Hawks can keep the efficient Gallinari, using him as a true floor spacer with the rest of the second unit putting in, then they will be in a good place. Now all they have to do is get all of their troops back on the court.