Atlanta Hawks: 4 Takeaways from Strong Win vs. Pelicans

Three-Point Shooting

One night after putting up a hopelessly terrible 19.5 percent shooting clip from downtown, the Atlanta Hawks succeeded beautifully from deep by scorching the nets to the tune of a 45.9 percent shooting rate from deep.

The team shot 17 of 37 from long range, and all of the following players shot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc: Kevin Huerter, John Collins, Alex Len, Dewayne Dedmon, Kent Bazemore and Deandre Bembry.

John the Baptist

Speaking of John Collins, after dropping the first 30-point, 20-rebound game in Atlanta Hawks history since the early 1990s (when Kevin Willis did it), he responded with another excellent game. JC played 30 minutes and produced 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting with 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and a +6 on/off rating.

John was producing highlight after highlight in this one, including this memorable rejection:

However it was this stunning alley-oop that will be replayed for eternity in Collins’s highlight reels – and for good reason, as this was an astonishingly good dunk that brings to mind his nickname of John the Baptist:

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1104893146586963968

I mean… just… wow.

Also, those 4 blocks he logged represent a career-high, which he has done on six separate occasions now. He doesn’t quite have the length or wingspan to be an elite rim protector, but if he can hone his defensive help skills, Collins could turn into an opportunistic shot blocker on the less glamorous end, which would supremely aid the Atlanta Hawks going forward.