Hawks Drop Wild One to Pistons

Individually, the Hawks had some interesting stat lines on a night that they played without three players that combine for 43.4 points per game in Schröd, Baze and Ersan.

John Collins got the call at power forward for his 5^th career start, and Collins acquitted himself well against the immense bulk of Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin inside.

Collins logged a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, though his trademark finishing wasn’t quite as sharp as he shot 3 of 8 from the field – including two misses from downtown.

JC played 31 minutes, which he will hopefully average for the rest of the season, and had 1 steal and 2 nice blocks, including a clutch rejection of Reggie Bullock late that led to an Isaiah Taylor runaway layup.

Collins did not insert himself into this game in a big way, as his thin frame can get bullied around to an extent against huge bodies like Drummond and Griffin.

JC’s fellow 2017 draft class inductee, Tyler Dorsey, got his first career start in this game and matched Collins stride-for-stride with 31 minutes played – a new career-high for Dorsey.

TD did not have his best shooting night (4 of 11) and contributed to the Hawks’ overall outside shooting woes (1 of 4 from deep), but he did showcase his playmaking abilities with 6 assists – finding cutters and open shooters for easy looks.

Dorsey also nabbed a career-high-tying 5 rebounds and poked away one steal.

While he is far from a finished NBA product, it was nice to see Dorsey and Collins share the court in a starting role for the team – something that might presage the future of the Hawks franchise.

https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/963929643253358592

Speaking of Atlanta’s future, another unheralded and undrafted rookie came into a close game for the Hawks and had a huge impact. I’m speaking, of course, of Andrew White, who the Hawks have on a two-way contract with the Erie BayHawks.

White came into the game in the 1^st half and was smoking hot from the field, though he was clearly nervous in his first stint and committed a turnover, then missed a three and a wide-open layup.

After that small hiccup, White caught fire and he, miraculously, led the Hawks in scoring on this night with 15 points in his debut.

White only played 16 minutes, but he impacted the game in a big way with his scoring, and he also notched 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in that time.

AD3 looked pretty comfortable on the court after getting over those initial butterflies, and though his defense looked to be a work-in-progress (to say the least), Coach Bud should give him a chance in the low-stakes second half the Hawks face after the All-Star Break.

Isaiah Taylor and Taurean Prince dominated the proceedings late for the Hawks, as Taylor scored 11 of his 13 points in the final period (5 of which came with less than 12 seconds left in the game) and Prince also scored 11 of his 14 in the final period.

Taylor, in particular, was a whirling dervish of energy and offensive efficiency late in this game, as the Pistons looked to be standing still on defense as Taylor knifed his way into the lane with the speed of a revved-up battering ram:

https://twitter.com/HawksOnFSSE/status/963951773193916416

The Hawks are now off for nine days for the All-Star break and return to action on Friday, February 23^rd on the road against the Indiana Pacers.

Next: Atlanta Hawks Youth Movement Part 1: The Rookies

Keep it locked to Soaring Down South as we cover the play of Taurean Prince and John Collins in the Rising Stars game, as well as recap an interesting and action-packed first half of the season with all sorts of articles covering your Atlanta Hawks.