De’Andre Hunter needs to play the game of his life for the Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks have their seeding future in their own hands. They are level with the Charlotte Hornets and the Brooklyn Nets with five games left in the season. They are level with both of these teams in terms of wins but behind them in the season series.
This means that the Hawks are going to have to keep winning and if they can do this then they can get above the teams in front of them. This also becomes easier with the next game being against the Brooklyn Nets. Now, while the Nets have had injury and vaccination issues, they are still a very dangerous team.
If the Hawks want to make any noise in the play-in tournament and then the NBA playoffs this is not a game they want to lose. They need to remind themselves that they can play with the big boys of the Eastern Conference and they do not get much bigger than Kevin Durant in terms of offense.
The Atlanta Hawks need De’Andre Hunter to have a massive game
In the 14 games since his return, Durant has averaged 30.6 points, 7.3 assists, and 7.1 rebounds in 38.0 minutes per game. He has shot the ball well, for the most part, going 52.1 percent from the floor, 38.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 94.2 percent from the line.
This is where De’Andre Hunter steps in. Durant is his natural matchup on this team and when the Nets forward shoots at under 50 percent from the floor the Nets have gone 1-5. The exception to this rule was against the Hornets when Durant had 14 points on 13 shot attempts.
However, it is not all on Hunter to do his job, as Durant is also a willing and able passer. He has had seven or more assists in ten of the 14 games so the rest of the Hawks squad needs to be right on their game if they are going to get the win.
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There is even a case for Delon Wright to start if the Hawks are going to also stop Kyrie Irving as he is the Hawks’ second-best wing defender right now. This being said, the Nets’ offense is run through Durant so Hunter needs to play out of his skin if the Hawks are going to rise above the Nets in the standings.