Atlanta Hawks stud from narrow win over Pels: Not even John Collins can stop John Collins
It was just two games ago when forward John Collins was the dud for his performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He still grabbed 12 rebounds in that contest but only had seven points. As a player on a new-max deal and that is expected to be the second-best player on what they hope is a championship contender, that won’t cut it.
To his credit, Collins got back to his usual ways in the big win over the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, that was Young’s first 30-ball and he had 18 in the second quarter alone.
Collins earns it outright in this one and for somewhat unconventional reasons.
He (once again) got into early foul trouble picking up two fouls about three minutes into the game and picked up his third after just 10 minutes of action. It’s an issue that has cropped up throughout the start of this campaign.
Another Day, Another JC oop pic.twitter.com/El47MAO323
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 28, 2021
Amazingly, or frustratingly depending on how you felt about more than a few of the calls, he finished the game with just four which came in the third quarter. Having a clean fourth quarter was just the start of what truly earned Collins this spot. Remember, this game was in contention until the Hawks went on a 9-2 run to take a brief lead setting the table for their win.
Collins got just four of his 16 points in the four quarter. But he hauled in seven of his 12 rebounds (of the 21 for the team), including four offensive boards, and got three of his four dimes.
He still needs to cut down on the fouls. They will come back to haunt him against teams better equipped to make them pay. In this one, however, it was kind of amazing to see what he did even with the early whistle woes.