Hawks' Tim Hardaway: Scores 20 as starter in small lineup

Hardaway started at shooting guard and scored 20 points (9-16 FG, 2-7 3Pt) while adding four assists, three rebounds and one steal across 35 minutes during Monday's 108-107 win over the Knicks.

Analysis:

It's likely only a one-game appointment to the starting lineup for Hardaway, who received the nod as part of an undersized lineup while Dwight Howard sat out for rest purposes. Even so, Hardaway has made a case for elevated playing time once he heads back to the bench, as Monday's 20-point effort marked the fourth time in eight games that he scored at least that many points. Hardaway doesn't offer much in terms of supporting statistics, but he'll likely continue to have license to fire away whenever he's on the court as the leader of the team's second unit. Inconsistency should be expected, but he's been stellar on the whole over this eight-game stretch, averaging 16.9 points (on 54.5% shooting), 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 three-pointers, 2.1 assists and 0.9 steals in 27.4 minutes per contest.