The Hawks play Chicago at home tomorrow with the goal of winning three straight games.
Ahead of a crucial game against the Chicago Bulls tomorrow night that could affect the playoff standings, the Hawks have won six of their previous eight games. They may be a touch shorthanded tomorrow night because they only had nine players last night.
Atlanta has posted its injury report for tomorrow. Clint Capela (left adductor strain), Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture), and Wesley Matthews (sickness) are all out, while Bruno Fernando (probable) and Patty Mills (doubtful) are also listed.
De’Andre Hunter and Fernando were not available for the Hawks to play against yesterday night, but it looks like both players will be available. The past two games have been missed by Mills and Matthews.
While he played with the Hawks G-League franchise, the College Park Skyhawks, for the majority of the season, rookie guard Kobe Bufkin was sidelined with an injury during the first half of the season, which disappointed Hawks fans. The Hawks were severely shorthanded, which meant there was a high possibility Bufkin would see some meaningful playing time.
He would end up playing close to 16 minutes and finishing with three points on 1-4 shooting, but his impact would not come from the offensive line. What you want to see in a young guy getting his first minutes of meaningful game action is that he can compete and play strong defense.
What was his head coach’s assessment of his work? Quin Snyder thought it was fantastic.
“I felt he performed a fantastic job. We want him to take shots when he was vulnerable. Most significantly, those guys are fast and make it difficult to stay in front of them when they have a few possessions. He was, you know, taking a defensive position, shifting his feet, spreading his hands, and doing all the things a defender in this league needs to do. He was prepared for the circumstance he found himself in tonight, and we had discussed it before to the game. I believe that a large portion of this is related to playing in The G League. As I have previously said, he is in Grand Rapids trying to get the first commercial flight out the next morning while watching footage. He has done a lot of film and is fortunate enough to not be flying on a private plane. He is improving and becoming more disciplined in many aspects of his life, not just hoops. Tonight, it was evident in his play.