Daniels is a candidate to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year award, but he didn’t contribute much on the offensive end in Atlanta’s two play-in games. He scored a total of 18 points across both games, but he added 22 rebounds, 11 assists and five defensive stats in their play-in games. Daniels had an incredibly breakout season and should be rewarded with some postseason honors. After being one of the best late-round picks in the draft this season, he’ll be selected much earlier heading into next year.

One of the NBA’s best defenders, Daniels is in a position where his team also needs consistent offensive production. He struggled against the Magic, which is unsurprising based on what happened during the regular season. In three appearances against Orlando, Daniels averaged 11.7 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting. He’ll need to be much better on Friday night if the Hawks are to reach the postseason. Atlanta will host the winner of Wednesday’s game between Miami and Chicago on Friday, with the winner being the eighth seed in the East.

Daniels will rest on Sunday after flirting with a triple double in his last outing. Vit Krejci and Garrison Matthews can take advantage of his absence to wrap up the weekend.

Daniels had a spectacular first half on the offensive end and entered the break with 16 points without missing a shot. He wasn’t quite as effective in the second half, but he was still able to score 22 points for a second-straight game. This was also his 12th-straight game with at least two steals, which extends the longest steal streak this season by anyone in the NBA. He has been wreaking having on the defensive end all season and will look to keep that going over Atlanta’s final three games of the week.