The Hawks have an opportunity to win their third straight game, but it is not going to be an easy task. They will be welcoming in the Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant, who is playing at a really high level.
The Hawks might be doing it without one of their key pieces tomorrow night. After returning from injury to help the Hawks beat the Lakers, De'Andre Hunter is going to be questionable for tomorrow's game with right knee injury management. The Hawks also have a game against the Warriors on Saturday and Hunter might sit at least one of those games out.
Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture) is out for Atlanta, as is Vit Krejci (left shoulder subluxation).
After the game against the Lakers, Snyder talked about what it means to have Hunter back out there and what his strengths are defensively:
"We are able to switch more. Tonight there were a few possessions where we did not have two of those guys in, but we have one of them coming off of the bench, whoever it is, they can give someone else a blow... we have had guys playing a lot of minutes and we trust them but anytime that you are up 35, 36, 37 minutes over a period of time, that is hard and you are asking a lot of guys and you can do that occasionally, but over the course of a season, back-to-backs to have Hunt back, you know we lost Jalen for a while and its good to see those guys, they were connected and on the defensive end, they are able to switch and help each other and that size is just different, it is different on the glass.
He has great habits. In shifting, in rotating, in helping, he has a good feel for where he needs to be and he's 6'8. Whether he is defending a wing or there are times where we have him on the ball, that versatility is really helpful and he takes pride in it too."
Trae Young echoed much of what Snyder had to say:
"It was great having Dre back, he is a big piece of our team. He is probably our best defender on the ball, his strength and size, he brings a lot to our team. Offensively, he can shoot the ball, score and if there is a mismatch, he can go score. So, he brings a lot to our team, you just hope he is out there for us so having him out there tonight for us was good and I am sure things will get increased as the games go on and that will definitely help."
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