Delon Wright is sacrificing his game for the good of the Atlanta Hawks
With the Atlanta Hawks missing John Collins, their longest-tenured player, several players have had to step up in his absence. Danilo Gallinari had his best offensive game for the season with 25 points. However, it was Delon Wright who stepped up on the boards for the Hawks.
The backup point guard collected seven rebounds on the night which is just shy of Collins’ 7.9 per game. Putting it bluntly, if the backup point guard did not collect these rebounds, then the Hawks would have most probably lost this game.
Wright has certainly come into his own since the Cam Reddish trade. His confidence in running the second unit is growing every game. The thing is that Wright always has his defense to fall back on when the rest of his game is struggling.
Delon Wright gave the Hawks what they needed against the Cleveland Cavaliers
With Collins out, Gallinari has had to step into the starting lineup. Given that his role is the most important one on the second unit, Wright has plenty of work to do in order to keep the reserves rolling for the game. How well did he go, well he had a plus-eight impact on the box score which was the best on the team.
You see, Wright did what the team needed all night. Two of his seven rebounds were at the offensive end. He may not have had the same athleticism in his finishes as Collins but the injured power forward averages 1.8 offensive rebounds per game. Wright also dished out four assists which kept the offense flowing.
On one play Wright looked to score in the paint and was stopped just prior to getting to the hoop by two long front-court defenders. He had the nous to thread the needle to get the ball to Onyeka Okongwu for the tough finish. These are plays that he was not making prior to the Reddish trade.
Next. Jalen Johnson should get extended minutes with John Collins out. dark
Now, Wright is not going to do this every game, and nor should he be expected to. What he is going to do is continue to give total effort and try to do everything he can to help the Atlanta Hawks win. He did not score in the Cavaliers game, but he may score in double digits next game.