Make that six games in a row now for the Atlanta Hawks losing streak. Following their 105-96 loss to the Denver Nuggets, there are certainly more questions than answers at this point. There hasn’t yet been any finger-pointing as we have seen in past years.
But forward John Collins did call for some introspection after the team dropped its eighth game in nine tries.
"“I see a team that underachieved. Definitely didn’t fulfill what we came on this trip to do, and that was just win games…Didn’t accomplish that. And now we’ve got to start there and look in the mirror…” via Sarah K. Spencer/Atlanta Journal-Consitution"
After his team bottomed out from beyond the arc going 5-of-28 against the Nuggets, even the Hawks best performers this season would see some things they didn’t like.
Collins had a great game despite what looked to be a tough individual matchup on paper. He followed his seven-point, four-rebound clunker versus the Utah Jazz with a 26-point, nine-board showing on Friday to go with two blocks.
Collins shot 50 percent from the floor for the game and had 16 points in the second half though he went just 1-of-6 from outside.
"We were doing a good job of kicking the ball out to the perimeter ... but we couldn't knock down shots." pic.twitter.com/0EAGHQCiDO
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) November 13, 2021
The Atlanta Hawks have been top-heavy over their recent six-game slide
The loss to the Jazz aside, Collins hasn’t been the reason the Hawks have been struggling over this skid. It has been quite to the contrary, especially as he’s stepped his game up in three of their last four games now.
He’s averaged 23.6 points on 63.4 percent shooting while going 7-of-15 from three-point distance with 8.3 boards.
Even as the Hawks have gone winless over their last six, Collins has thrived.
The 6-foot-9 high-flyer averaged 17.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 blocks. He slashed .521/.458/.850 over that span. The three-point and free-throw efficiency numbers are both above his rates for the entire season.
Atlanta Hawks stud from recent losing streak: Trae Young has stepped up despite the new foul rules
For all of the hand-wringing over the league’s new emphasis over “unnatural” actions during shot attempts, Trae Young had largely avoided the issues that had befallen the likes of James Harden and Damian Lillard. Both of them had seen their scoring output greatly reduced in the wake of the changes.
Young was certainly shooting the ball less efficiently, knocking down just under 43 percent of his shots and under 30 percent of his threes over Atlanta’s first six games. But he was down a more modest 3.0 points per game from last season.
Things have changed for Young and it started with the Hawks last win, their 118-111 revenge win over the Washington Wizards.
The superstar point guard had 26 points on 43.8 percent shooting in that game, but still shot just 1-for-6 from deep.
Since then, Young is averaging 26.3 points on 44.3 percent shooting to go with 9.0 assists and 3.8 boards. He’s gone 18-of-43, or 41.8 percent, from three over that time. The points, rebounds, and efficiency numbers are all above those from last year from Young.
His three-point efficiency would be a career-high across an entire campaign.
As mentioned, though, no Hawks are without their warts in this losing run, and Young is not immune. He’s averaged 4.2 turnovers through all of this which would be the second-most of his career across a full season.
Young has currently tied his career-low (from his rookie season) with 3.8 per game.
Overall, this is what you want to see from your best player; stepping up to the plate when times get tough. The next step for Young is rallying the troops to get off the schneid.
Atlanta Hawks dud from recent losing streak: Cam Reddish has turned his hot start into a cold run
Cam Reddish has enjoyed a good start to the season despite his landing in this space. He’s averaging 11.9 points on 40.8 percent shooting from the floor and is knocking down 38.6 percent of his long-range looks. All of those are new career-highs for the third year wing out of Duke.
It’s the kind of growth many wanted to see, including management as they reportedly rebuffed at least one team on a trade offer in the offseason.
However, it has also been the tale of two halves for the uber-talented Reddish.
After averaging 16.0 points on 45.3 percent shooting overall and 44.4 percent from deep over the Hawks first seven games (in which they were 4-3), he’s down to 7.2 points on 31.8 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 from outside over their last six.
He’s seen his playing time fall by about four minutes per game over that time.
We’ve made the case in the past that Reddish needed more time with the ones so that he wouldn’t have as many responsibilities, perhaps allowing him to sustain his efficiency.
It’s hard to make that argument when he isn’t delivering the explosions that had followed his early-game struggles to start the season.
Reddish had eight points on 28.6 percent shooting overall and 1-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Outside of his 4-of-6 showing en route to 16 points versus the Jazz, Reddish has hit just two of his last 15 triples.
In such a pivotal year, both for himself and the team, Reddish needs to regain his early-season form. The Hawks bench has been inconsistent this season and he has been the poster-child so far. Still, there is plenty of time and even more motivation to get things back on track.