De'Andre Hunter Scores Career-High 35 Points, Sixth Man of the Year?

De'Andre Hunter strengthened his case for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award with perhaps the best game of his professional basketball career on Monday night in Minneapolis. His Atlanta Hawks suffered a 100-92 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Hunter was the best player on the floor, tying his career-high with 35 points on 12/21 shooting from the floor, 4/8 shooting from the three-point line, and 7/8 from the charity stripe to go along with two rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes on the floor.

It was Hunter's prolific scoring performance that allowed the Hawks to even stay in the game without their leading scorer and the NBA's assist leader Trae Young as well as two other starters Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson, who each missed the game with various injuries. Watch the highlights from De'Andre Hunter's career-high matching 35-point performance in the video below.

Hunter, whose move to the bench this season has resulted in by far the best year of his career, scored at least 20 points off the bench for the 17th time this season, most of any reserve in the NBA this season. He also became just the second bench player in the league to score 35 points in a game this season, joining Cole Anthony of the Orlando Magic.

Hunter is still second in the current odds for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, trailing only Payton Pritchard of the Boston Celtics. In his sixth season in the NBA, Hunter is averaging a career-high 19.2 points per game and shooting a career-best 40.3% from beyond the arc.

Hunter is the third former Virginia basketball star to score 30+ points this month, as Trey Murphy III had back-to-back 30-point games a couple of weeks ago and Ty Jerome set a new career-high with 33 points last Friday and made some history by becoming the 11th player in NBA history to make eight threes in a game without a miss.

Speaking of those other Hoos in the NBA, Trey Murphy III had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks for the New Orleans Pelicans in their 113-104 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday night. The Pelicans no longer have the worst record in the NBA, but they are a long ways away from playoff contention.

Ty Jerome, meanwhile, scored 15 points, shot 7/11 from the floor, and contributed three assists and two rebounds in 15 minutes of game action to help the Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Detroit Pistons 110-91 on Monday. The Cavs still own the best record in the Eastern Conference at 37-9, holding a 5.5-game lead over the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

We should have a lot more to report from Monday night's NBA games with regards to former UVA basketball stars, as 24 NBA teams were in action, but Sam Hauser missed the Celtics game with a hip injury, Ryan Dunn is sidelined from the Phoenix Suns with an ankle injury, and the Washington Wizards have been without Malcolm Brogdon for weeks as he continues to deal with a foot injury. Anthony Gill (Wizards), Jay Huff (Grizzlies), and Reece Beekman (Nets) played on Monday night, but saw limited minutes on the floor.

Read More on Former UVA Athletes in the Pros