Atlanta Hawks: Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter snapped out of their slumps
The Atlanta Hawks (24-26) finally has their winning streak snapped at seven games with a 106-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday. It came with Trae Young sidelined after bumping into Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers in the previous game. The available Atlanta players fought hard, all things considered.
Toronto, currently sitting eighth in the East, has now won three in a row after beating the Miami Heat for the second time in three days including a triple-overtime triumph.
Atlanta got 26 points from Kevin Huerter on 75.0 percent shooting and 5-of-6 threes.
They also got 17 points from De’Andre Hunter. Though he was less efficient, he still shot above his season average at 46.7 percent from the floor.
Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter were quietly in scoring slumps during the Hawks run
It seems impossible in retrospect. But both Huerter and Hunter snapped multi-game scoring slumps with their performances against the Raptors. Huerter averaged 6.0 points on 44.4 percent shooting but just 22.2 percent from deep over the final three games of the Hawks winning streak.
Hunter was better but still averaged just 9.0 points though he was efficient in doing so, shooting 50 percent overall and 75 percent from three.
The Hawks hadn’t lost in nearly two weeks and were the third highest-scoring offense in that span. But, as many have lauded along the way, much of the Hawks recent turnaround can be attributed to turning up their intensity and focus on the defensive end of the floor.
They were fifth in defensive efficiency during their streak.
Atlanta held opponents to 43.5 percent shooting overall, good for third during the run. Opponents shot just 31.7 percent from deep, the fourth-lowest mark in the NBA in that same time frame.
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All of this is in stark contrast to their earlier efforts when other teams shot 47.0 percent from the floor and 36.0 percent from deep leading up to the streak.
In their defense, Huerter and Hunter had both been on offensive tears in the early stages of the run.
Huerter averaged 14.3 points on 48.9 percent shooting and hit 22-of-45 (48.0%) from three while Hunter put up 18.8 points on 47.8 percent shooting (31.8% 3P) over the team’s first four wins of the run.
Next. John Collins is starting to grow into his role. dark
If the duo is back to that level of production while keeping up their effort on defense, the Hawks will continue to make headway in a crowded Eastern Conference.