Atlanta Hawks: 7 Takeaways After Toppling West-Leading Nuggets

John Collins in Beast Mode

John Collins was the main reason why the Atlanta Hawks toppled the Denver Nuggets on this night. After previously scoring career-highs of 24 and 26 points in the Hawks’ previous 2 games, Collins upstaged himself again versus Denver, putting up a beautiful stat line of 30 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block in 33 minutes of action.

Collins was a complete wrecking ball, and the only way the Nuggets could stop was by getting him ejected on a rather over-reactionary flagrant 2 foul on Malik Beasley. A simple body block, the refs deemed it unnecessary and violent, undercutting what was a terrific night for our JC.

Let’s not dwell on the negative though. After getting his feet under him in the first few games of the year, Collins has exploded over the past week and looks to have taken “the leap” after his rookie year. For the entirety of this contest, Collins was easily the most athletic player on the floor, simply outworking all other players and imposing his will on both ends of the court.

I guess the Wake Forest Demon Deacon had to show out in the Atlanta Hawks uniforms that feature a similar color palette to his college team’s.