De'Andre Hunter's Status Revealed for Tonight's Game vs the Nuggets

Atlanta will face the defending champion Nuggets tonight in Atlanta

After being listed as questionable coming into tonight's game vs the Denver Nuggets,  De'Andre Hunter's status for tonight's game has been revealed. 

Hunter is going to be out tonight after being listed as questionable on the injury report coming into the game. 

De’Andre Hunter is OUT tonight.

He was listed as questionable with right quad tendon soreness. https://t.co/9AM0kgl1ny

— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) December 11, 2023

Hunter is an inconsistent player, but his absence could be really bad for the Hawks. Atlanta's defense is already struggling in every way and without Johnson, Hunter is by far their best wing defender.

The two wing players that have gotten minutes off the bench have been Wesley Matthews and Garrison Matthews, but I have a hard time believing Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is going to do that. Neither player has been very good this season and doesn't need to play major minutes.

There are two other intriguing options. Onyeka Okongwu could start at the four and move Bey over to the three. Another option could be having Bogdan Bogdanovic start in place of Hunter, but with Trae Young off the injury report and presumably back in the starting lineup, I assume Snyder wants to be able to bring Bogdanovic off the bench.

One area where I think Atlanta could have an advantage over the Nuggets is the bench play. Even without Saddiq Bey coming off the bench, Atlanta has Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu, two proven players off the bench, and that is where the Nuggets have struggled this year. They are playing a lot of young players off the bench and you can tell they miss a guy like Bruce Brown. It could get a lot better as the year goes on, but right now their bench is not very good.

The Nuggets defense can stop the Hawks though. Denver is 8th in PPG allowed, 12th in field goal percentage allowed, and 15th in three-point percentage. Per Cleaning the Glass, Denver is 13th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 10th in effective field goal percentage allowed. Aaron Gordon is the best defender in this game in my opinion and he could have a big impact on this game.

De'Andre Hunter guarding Tobias Harris / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

The Hawks' defense is going to have a hard time with this Nuggets offense. When they are completely healthy, it is fair to say that Denver has the most complete starting five in the NBA. They are 14th in PPG, 4th in field goal percentage, 15th in three-point percentage, 13th in offensive rebounding, and 2nd in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Denver is 11th in points per 100 possessions, 9th in effective field goal percentage, 6th in turnover percentage, 10th in offensive rebounding rate, and 30th in free throw rate.

Nikola Jokic can say he is the best basketball player in the world and you won't get much of an argument from anyone. Jokic is going for his third MVP trophy and is currently averaging 28.4 PPG, 13.0 RPG, and 9.6 APG. He has struggled shooting the past two games but has been dominant this season and the MVP favorite. When he is on the bench, the Hawks have to win those minutes and by a good margin. If they don't, it is hard to see Atlanta winning this game. 

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