Sadly for Macedonian NBA fans everywhere (though mostly in Macedonia), Pero Antic has been pretty bad this year. Normally this would be concerning for a second year player, but as Pero as already 32 years old, a little regression is not unusual.
He’s been really bad, though. 34% from the field for a 7-footer is apparoching Nikoloz Tskitishvili territory. The Hawks, on the other hand, have been really good, so his poor play has gone unnoticed for the most part.
Now would be a good time for him to start perking up again, as the Hawks gear up for the playoffs with an iffy bench. Remember all the problems they caused with him last year in the playoffs? That could happen again, but Pero has to make it work by starting to make a few threes. This is a good start, scoring a career high 22, with 18 coming in the first half. Can he do anything even resembling this again? We’ll see.