Atlanta Hawks: 4 Takeaways from Thunder Drubbing

John Collins Continues Great Season

One player who did not disappoint against the powerhouse Thunder was John Collins, who continues his strong season after returning from injury. Collins had his second double-double in the past four games, and he has looked amazing in his return from offseason injury. The jump from year one to year two is what exactly what you’d expect from a great player – and I personally think it’s not too early to label JC that. Collins finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 memorable block:

He also had this sweet jam to start the 3rd quarter in the pick-and-roll with Taurean Prince:

https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1068692645566808065

Not to be outdone, he had an even better dunk in traffic later on in the quarter via a lob from Trae Young:

Collins continues to be the best player on the Atlanta Hawks not named Kent Bazemore, and it’s been fun watching him gallop around the court and make plays with verve and panache.

Kevin Huerter = Baller

As Kevin Huerter continues to start for the Hawks as the two guard (which is a good decision by Lloyd Pierce and the Atlanta Hawks brass), it’s been fun to see him make strides every night. He good size for his position and is able to move his feet well on defense. His general skill set is unusual, but he is an incredibly fluid athlete with great feel and high basketball IQ. Though he only scored 5 points against the Thunder, he piled up 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals with a neutral 0 BPM, which was sadly the highest of any Hawks player that played at least 11 minutes. Huerter’s lone made three was off this sweet bounce pass from Trae:

Because Huerter had less time to think about his shot, it went in with ease. As he gets more reps, I have faith that Huerter will indeed become a deadeye shooter.

The Atlanta Hawks play next on Monday against the defending-champion Golden State Warriors. Tip-off at State Farm Arena is 7:30 p.m. EST.