The concerning reason for Dyson Daniels’ usage decrease and offensive hesitancy might’ve been revealed on Friday (AEDT).
Daniels curiously attempted just two shots in 27 minutes of play in the Atlanta Hawks’ 10-point road victory over the Utah Jazz.
But the Bendigo product played with noticeable taping on his right hand — particularly around the thumb area — against the Jazz and in recent matchups with the Lakers and Kings, which could explain his minimised offensive role.
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The Hawks haven’t officially communicated an injury issue for Daniels, with the Aussie dynamo seemingly content to play through whatever the exact issue is.
Daniels had seen a spike in his usage in the continued knee injury absence of All-Star point guard Trae Young, but he had his quietest game this season against Utah.
Before the Jazz clash, Daniels hadn’t attempted fewer than four shots in a game this season, and in the seven games thus far without Young in the lineup, he’d attempted at least eight shots per outing.
Last season’s steals leader and Most Improved Player finished with a season-low two points on 1-2 field-goal shooting, two rebounds and three assists.
Daniels committed four personal fouls and was neutral in the plus-minus category.
He did, however, move into outright fourth place all-time for consecutive games with at least one steal — now just 12 games behind third-placed Michael Jordan.
Instead, it was Onyeka Okongwu and Jalen Johnson who carried the offensive load to fuel Atlanta to its eighth win of the season, combining for 63 points to account for almost half of the team’s scoring on the night. The Hawks dropped 130-plus points on back-to-back nights.
Through 12 games, Daniels is shooting just 25 per cent from three-point land, which is almost eight percentage points worse than his career average.
The 22-year-old signed a four-year, $100 million (AU$153.5m) contract extension in the off-season to solidify his standing as a high-value, ascending player in the league.
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, emerging Australian pair Tyrese Proctor and Luke Travers saw limited time in the Cavaliers’ 13-point loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Proctor played just 11 minutes but continues to get plenty of shots up, scoring seven points on 3-8 shooting.
It comes after the Duke University alum scored 12 points in 23 minutes against Miami on Thursday.
But while he shared the court for a matter of minutes with compatriot and Cavs teammate Luke Travers against the Heat, Travers played just two minutes for one steal on Friday against the Raptors.
Elsewhere, in Indiana, the Pacers’ season from hell continued as they were trounced 133-98 by the Phoenix Suns.
Indiana slumped to a disenchanting 1-11 on the season, with Australian guard Johnny Furphy still sidelined with an ankle injury.
Furphy is expected to also miss at least the next five games, according to Alex Golden of the ‘Setting the Pace’ podcast.
