Zaccharie Risacher Records First Career DNP As Hawks Tighten Rotation Amid Playoff Push

Since CJ McCollum replaced Risacher in the starting five, the Hawks have gone 18-4 and climbed to fifth in the Eastern Conference. The arrival of Jonathan Kuminga further complicated Risacher's situation. The two players occupy similar positional roles, and with Kuminga now at full strength following a knee injury, Atlanta rarely deploys both simultaneously. Risacher played a career-low seven minutes in Monday's loss to New York before being ruled out entirely Wednesday, with Corey Kispert inserted into the rotation ahead of him. Quin Snyder has been careful to frame Risacher's diminished role as circumstantial rather than performance-based. I think Zach's been doing all the things that I've talked about, that we've asked, Snyder said. We only have so many guys that we can actually put in the game. JK played a little more, so those minutes come from somewhere. It's not anything about one player. That's just the game. Snyder added: We need him to keep doing the things that he's been doing. I mean, he's great. He's been crashing the glass. Those are big plays for us. Atlanta's two most recent opponents, Cleveland and the New York Knicks, are also the franchise's most probable first-round playoff foes. With the rotation tightening around that reality, a near-term path back to consistent minutes for Risacher appears narrow.