Hawks’ Trae Young sends ‘aggressive’ message to De’Andre Hunter

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks snapped a three-game winning streak and extended it to four by defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 124-112 on Monday night. It was a total team effort for the Hawks, but once again it was De’Andre Hunter who stole the show on the night. The last four games have been enjoyable for Hunter, and on his birthday he finished with a team-high 22 points.

Hunter played extremely well off the bench and provided the key goal they needed for the second unit. After the game, Hunter kept it simple when asked what has been working for him lately.

“It’s just the work I put in,” Hunter said. “The coach tells me to shoot more, even when I think I’ve shot a lot, he keeps telling me to shoot more. I just have that confidence and my teammates. Trae finds me, (Jalen Johnson) finds me, it’s just up to me to make the attempt.”

Even Hunter’s teammates had good things to say about Hunter’s recent play, and he did it on both sides of the ball.

“De’Andre is aggressive and we all tell him to be aggressive,” Trae Young said. “We need him to be aggressive for us. Whenever he shoots, we think he’s coming in and he takes great shots. Nothing is forced, he just plays the right way. He could have done 20, 30 shots on his birthday and we would have been okay with that. But for him to come out here and still be efficient, play the right way and play defense, that was a heck of a performance from Dre.”

“Dre is really important for us off the bench,” Dyson Daniels said. “The guy can do everything. He can defend, he can make shots, and he’s been a really good start for us this year. He made shots, he got to the rim. He is a leader for us. He communicates really well, plays hard, but he deserves credit for taking us off the bench.”

De’Andre Hunter is coming up big for the Hawks

Injuries have hampered De’Andre Hunter’s career, but when he is available, he shows that he can be a consistent option for the team. This season he’s coming off the bench, and it may have been the best he’s played since entering the league.

Before their game against the Pelicans, Hunter was on the offensive side of the ball. In their first game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Hawks trailed badly in the first quarter, but Hunter helped them back into the game and finished the game with 26 points. In their second game against the Cavs, Hunter scored 23 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Against the Charlotte Hornets, Hunter scored two big layups at the end of the game to help the Hawks win and finished the game with 18 points.

If Hunter can continue his strong play off the bench, there should be no question that he could be in the Sixth Man of the Year discussions come the end of the season. Right now it’s about making sure he stays healthy and continues to play solidly on both sides of the ball.