Atlanta Hawks studs and duds from short-handed loss to the Magic

Atlanta Hawks stud from short-handed loss: Cam’s second half was something to behold

It was a career night for Cam Reddish, literally. He put a career-best 34 points on the Magic and was rather efficient in going about his business. Reddish shot a modest 47.8 percent from the floor but was 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. The third-year man out of Duke also had four rebounds, four assists, and a couple of blocks.

The Hawks had a player go for 30-plus points 14 times before Reddish’s outburst on Wednesday.

Trae Young has accounted for 13 of them while Collins had the other.

What was most impressive about the performance was that he shook off some poor shot selection early and found his rhythm in the second half as he operated as one of the primary scorers for the first time this season.

Reddish was 3-for-6 in the first quarter but cooled off in the second, shooting 1-for-5 from the floor.

The third quarter was his as he had 11 points on 83.3 percent shooting.

In the final frame, he was 2-for-6 shooting the ball. But he had six free-throw attempts, knocking down five of his tries.

This isn’t a surprise as Reddish had been playing well before he suffered through some wrist soreness that kept him out for three games and a non-COVID illness cause him to miss another one.

On the season, he’s averaging a fraction of a point less than he did last year. But he’s slashing .413/.397/.891, all career-highs, in his 26 appearances.

Shot selection has often been the bane of Reddish’s playing existence. He showed much better awareness in the latter stages of the game and we have long known what he can do once he gets rolling and on define, though, this wasn’t his best game on that end.