Hawks’ Hunter out for rest of playoffs with knee injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Hawks small forward De’Andre Hunter won’t take part in his team’s ongoing series against the Sixers.
Atlanta announced Wednesday that an MRI on Hunter revealed a new small tear of the lateral meniscus in his right knee. The Philadelphia native is set to undergo surgery and will miss the remainder of the postseason.
Hunter missed the first two games of the second-round series with what the Hawks described as right knee soreness. Solomon Hill started both games in his his place, totaling six points on 2-for-9 shooting.
Kevin Huerter played 36 minutes Tuesday night in Game 2 and was excellent, scoring 20 points off the bench. He started 49 regular-season games and would be a logical option to move back to the first unit.
Regardless of the Hawks’ next move, Hunter’s injury is a significant blow. Tobias Harris found mismatch after mismatch at the start of Tuesday’s game, and it’s clear Hunter’s defense on Harris and Ben Simmons likely would’ve been valuable in this series. Hunter, who averaged 15.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 23 regular-season games, also would’ve given the Hawks more offensively than Hill.
The 23-year-old graduated from Friends’ Central, attended the University of Virginia and was the fourth pick in the 2019 draft.
Joel Embiid has played through a small lateral meniscus tear and posted 79 points, 22 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and three steals over the series’ first two games.
Outside of Embiid, no Sixers’ status was in question leading into Games 1 or 2. Game 3 will be Friday night in Atlanta.
Seth Curry has not felt his best since testing positive for COVID-19 in January but has been deemed good to play and did so well Tuesday, knocking down 5 of 6 three-point attempts.
“I feel fine,” Curry said. “I don’t think until I get the full summer that I’ll be back to fully where I want to be, but I’m more than good enough. Coach is doing a good job of getting me rest when I need it. I’m in constant communication with them about how I’m feeling out there on the floor throughout the game. You’ve got to just play through a lot of stuff come playoff time.”