Atlanta Hawks (31-33) forward John Collins hasn’t looked very rusty at all in his return to action following a seven-game absence due to a strained foot. The 113-110 loss came one game after they struggled to put away the Washington Wizards (without Bradley Beal). It was also their first overtime and kept the Hawks from jumping up to the eight-seed.
They will wrap up this three-game road trip with a tilt versus the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks against whom they are 2-0 this season.
A win will be hard to come by if they don’t play better than they did on Monday night.
Collins played well in his initial return coming off of the bench – nine points, six rebounds, one block, one steal, and one assist while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor in just under 25 minutes of action – and had another solid night offensively against the Pistons.
John Collins knocked all of the rust off offensively despite the Atlanta Hawks loss
The 6-foot-9 Collins finished Monday’s contest with 17 points – second only to Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 22 points – and 11 boards while shooting 53.8 percent from the floor and hitting 2-of-5 threes. It was his 16th double-double of the season and first in four games going back two games prior to him suffering the strain.
Collins said his foot was “sorta stiff” but that, overall, he had “no complaints” following the Hawks win.
He would likely complain about the outcome of the matchup with the Pistons. But the Hawks have to feel good about what they have seen so far from the fifth-year man out of Wake Forest as they navigate another shoulder issue for Kevin Huerter.
This has become somewhat of a trend for Collins.
https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1501271288182153217
He averaged 16.8 points shooting a shade under 55.0 percent from the floor in 12 return performances coming into the season with 7.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. Four of those 12 were coming off of the bench as he did against Washington. He’s averaging 14.2 points on 52.3 percent shooting with 5.7 boards in those games.
Collins also averaged 18.1 points on 55.0 percent shooting with 9.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in eight games returning as a starter entering this year.
He returned from health and safety protocols with a 21-point, eight-board showing on 47.1 percent shooting in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first meeting between the two teams earlier in the campaign.
The Hawks have gone 4-9 when working Collins back into the rotation including this year.
They’re 3-6 when he returns as a starter with the recent win over Washington being the first to come when he returned as a member of the bench. Collins is averaging 16.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 blocks on 53.6 percent shooting (38.1% 3P) this season. Before going down he was averaging 21.0/9.3/1.0 with a .561/.412/.750 slash line over his last four outings.