Zaza Pachulia is having a down year for the Atlanta Hawks
Zaza Pachulia is now in his fifth season with the Atlanta Hawks, and it has been his worst one yet. The 6-11, 275-pound Pachulia has often been seen as one of the Hawks enforcers, playing physical down low and not afraid of giving a hard foul. After the 2006-’07 season, where Pachulia averaged 12.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks, his role diminished the next couple seasons. Although he was getting less minutes and was almost always coming off the bench the next two seasons, he was still a productive big man for them. The past two seasons he only played 17.4 minutes and averaged 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 47% from the field and 70% from the line. This season he hasn’t been the same physical presence the Hawks were used to seeing on defense and he hasn’t been as strong of a rebounder. That is why he has been getting even less minutes this year. He is playing 13.5 minutes per game while averaging just 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds this season. He is also only making 44% of his shots and is shooting just 66% from the line. The Hawks are going to need Pachulia to step it up in the playoffs and play more like he has the past two seasons.

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