Atlanta Hawks: 4 Takeaways from Hawks Win vs. Jazz
By Chris Guest
Collins Tough Matchup
John Collins suffered through a tough night against the Jazz, as this Utah team has the requisite size and length needed to stifle JC around the rim. Speaking of stifling, the team has The Stifle Tower (Rudy Gobert) in the middle just gobbling up rebounds and not allowing anyone remotely near the paint.
JC finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes – a shockingly low number for a player that routinely puts up 20 points and 10 rebounds. The matchup with Gobert or Derrick Favors makes life hard for JC, and even on the perimeter, Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neal can give him fits with their size and length.
Despite all that, he had 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block and was a +3 in on/off rating in those 27 minutes.
Draft Position
As of now, the Atlanta Hawks are locked in to the fifth-best lottery odds. The Dallas Mavericks are playing tonight against the Kings, and since the Hawks own Dallas’s draft pick if it falls outside the Top 5, every Atlanta Hawks fan should be rooting hard for Dallas to win tonight. Let’s go Mavs!
Tip-Ins
- Despite only attempting 1 field goal, DeAndre’ Bembry played an important role defending Donovan Mitchell, and he finished with a team-high +8 in on/off rating.
- Dewayne Dedmon finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, and it only took him 8 shots to get those points. His efficiency was buoyed by a perfect 3 of 3 showing from deep.
- Red Pepper had one of his better games in recent weeks with 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting, but he doesn’t quite have that same spring in his step that he had a few months back.
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The Hawks play next on Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. EST.