Atlanta Hawks: 3 Takeaways from Hawks Comeback Win in Phoenix

John Collins is turning into the ultimate mismatch on offense

Collins is a high-energy player whose bread-and-butter is his ability to wreak havoc in the paint. But he has dramatically started to diversify his game in Year 2, from making 3-pointers to improved defense (in stretches), JC is doing it all, but it will always come back to his hustle and ability to rebound.

And on Saturday night, he showed that even that skill has the ability to reach a much higher level.

The Suns were destroyed in the rebounding battle in this one, as the Hawks finished the game with a 16-rebound advantage, which included the fact that the Atlanta Hawks had as many defensive rebounds (37) as the Suns had total rebounds.

This was mostly due to the fact that the Suns’ power forward situation consisted of Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, and Kelly Oubre Jr.— nice pace-and-space PFs—and they had nowhere near the strength required to keep an aggressive Collins off the glass, especially the offensive glass.

Head coach Lloyd Pierce hit the nail right on the head when talked about the Atlanta Hawks tough mentality postgame..

Collins is 7th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game, and has put up All-Star caliber numbers nigh after night. The 35-points were his career-high, and came on 65 percent shooting. On top of his usual dominance inside, Collins went 2/4 from the 3-point line.

And on the rare occasion that 2018 No. 1 pick DeAndre Ayton was matched up on Collins, the Wake Forest product blew right past Ayton with a clear advantage in speed on straight line drives.

Young is perhaps the best thing to happen to Collins’ career, as they are slowly but surely developing a chemistry akin to the John Stockton–Karl Malone. Obviously, Atlanta Hawks fans will only be so lucky if both develop into Hall of Fame talents, but for now, I think Hawks faithful will settle for having two clear future All-Star building blocks in Young and Collins.