Late in the season, there have been much different roles for Hawks rookie draft picks Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry.
Both wings played sparingly to start the season. However, Prince has appeared in the past 23 games for the Hawks. He has started the past five games with Thabo Sefolosha sidelined with a right groin strain. Prince has scored in double figures six times in his recent stretch of playing time.
It’s been a different story for Bembry. The Hawks assigned Bembry to the D-League last month. He played two games with the Salt Lake City Stars and was expected to remain for more time, but was recalled following injuries to Paul Millsap, Kent Bazemore and Sefolosha.
Bembry played just over five minutes in games against the Nets, Suns and 76ers as the Hawks expanded the bench with the injuries. Bazemore returned two games ago, and Bembry did not play against the Bulls and Nets.
“He’s helped us throughout the course of the season,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of Bembry before the Bulls game Saturday. “He hasn’t played a lot here recently. He has given us some minutes to get through (with injuries). With more guys coming back, he may the guy who is the odd man out. But I know he is ready, and we know he can help us.”
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