De’Andre Hunter breaks out of his slump just in time for the Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks had a tale of two halves against the Chicago Bulls. This was evident for their starting small forward De’Andre Hunter who has been in a mini slump for three and a half games before his excellent second half against the Bulls.

The Hawks were not even getting his usual high level defense out of Hunter which was showin in their matchup against the Bulls just over a week ago. It was then announced during that game that he was feeling unwell and only played just under 13 minutes.

In three of the last four games, including the previous Bulls game, Hunter was 0-of-12 from the floor. This included going 0-of-5 from behind the 3-point line. In a turn of events, Hunter who has struggled from the line this season was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. In the win against the Toronto Raptors, Hunter was 4-of-11 from the field but winning covers over many cracks.

The Bulls game was a tale of two halves for the Atlanta Hawks and De’Andre Hunter.

Hunter played just under 17 minutes in the first half, going 2-of-3 from the field, making his only 3-point shot in the process for the half. While he scored five points himself, he had a minus-five impact on the box score. Then the half time break happened and Hunter came out a different player.

While Trae Young took over in the fourth period, the play of Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter made that possible. Hunter scored 13 points in trhe half which is his average for the whole game this season. He was not as accurate from the perimeter but the rest of his offense came to life.

Hunter is a bonafide three-level scorer and he made 5-of-9 from the floor which included 1-of-3 from deep. He had to be defended on the perimeter as he was 2-of-4 from beyod the arc. He also made it to the free throw line four times, making only two. Hunter oleected three rebounds, an assist and a steal in the 19 minutes that he played.

You see, while Hunter is one of the main keys for the Hawks on the defensive end, for him to cement his role as the third cornerstone he needs to be at his offensive best. This half was the blueprint for Hunter for the rest of the season.