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Watch: De’Andre Hunter Locks Up Brandon Ingram to Secure Win for Hawks

Hunter received some high praise for forcing Ingram to miss his game-winning shot attempt on Wednesday night

Matt Newton

Brandon Ingram had a chance to hit a game-winning shot for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. Trailing by one point with only seconds remaining, Ingram tried to drive and find his spot, but the hounding defense of De’Andre Hunter forced Ingram to miss the shot badly, all but securing the victory for the Hawks.

Hunter and Ingram battled for the entire game. Ingram managed 20 points and eight rebounds, but Hunter held Ingram to just 8 of 21 shooting. Hunter got the last laugh as he caused Ingram to air-ball the game-winning shot attempt and seal the Atlanta win.

While Hunter did not have the greatest offensive performance with only 13 points and two rebounds, he did receive a lot of credit and praise for his lockdown defense on Brandon Ingram, especially late in the game.

Coming into Wednesday’s game, Hunter was already being heralded for his strong defensive play through the first three games of the season. Even while guarding the opposing team’s best players, Hunter has put up some extremely impressive defensive numbers:

Given his collegiate basketball roots with Tony Bennett at the University of Virginia, UVA fans probably are not very surprised to see Hunter excelling on the defensive end in the NBA. Although the season just began, Hunter is already making an early, but strong case to make an NBA All-Defensive Team this season. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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