Atlanta Hawks: The big men reclaimed the paint in Game Three

The Atlanta Hawks needed their big men to perform in the third game of their playoff series against the New York Knicks. It took a single play to get John Collins on the board. Collins did not score in the second game due to early foul trouble. Gallinari has struggled with his shooting all series and Capela has been held on the offensive end.

Well, in the first play of the game Trae Young found Collins rolling towards the hoop for the easy lay-in. Collins would end the night with 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists. He shot the ball well going 6-of-11 from the floor, and 2-of-5 from deep. He also stepped in between his point guard and Reggie Bullock when the Knicks player tried to get under his skin.

Clint Capela, who has averaged 6.5 points over the first two games came back to life offensively. Young found him for a number of alley-oops early on and then Collins gave an awesome big-to-big pass for another alley-oop. Capela ended the game with his first double-double of the series.

He also had two huge blocks including one at the end of the game which bought out the Dikembe Mutombo finger waggle.

The Atlanta Hawks bench bigs were on their game too.

Gallinari turned around his poor shooting in the first two games of the season to be 4-of-4 from deep in the third game of the series. He was cold from inside the arc, but his perimeter game certainly helped the Hawks.

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On top of his shooting, Gallinari snared four rebounds, an assist, and a steal. His game was crucial for the Hawks being able to build their lead. The next step for Gallinari is that he needs to get back to the free-throw line so that he is a threat on all three levels of offense.

However, there was a six-minute burst of time where Capela was on the bench which was so important for the Hawks. Onyeka Okongwu came onto the court and did not even attempt a shot. He did collect two defensive rebounds but it was his rim protection that was so good.

He had one block, which was crucial for the next time the Knicks attacked the paint. Alec Burks, whose incredible offensive work kept the Knicks in the first game, attacked the paint. He went up against Okongwu and was forced to pass the ball out of the paint to the perimeter.

In previous games, this could have been an easy bucket for Burks and it could have changed the momentum in favor of the Knicks. He was able to help keep the Knicks bench in check which has been an issue for the Hawks this series.