Atlanta Hawks F John Collins got benched amid worst game of career
The Atlanta Hawks (31-34) closed Wednesday’s 124-115 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks with John Collins on the bench. Their second loss in a row, the defeat keeps them 10th in the East behind the Charlotte Hornets by virtue of .001 percentage point. This is certainly not how they, or anyone, envisioned they’d kick off what was supposed to be the second easiest remaining slate.
They should be thanking their lucky stars that the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks have imploded even more than they have.
But backing into the postseason is a sure way to get bounced just as narrowly.
If they want to avoid that, they will need more from Collins who was making his third appearance and second start since returning from a strained foot. The first two outings went well with Collins logging a double-double against the Detroit Pistons.
John Collins’ worst game came at the worst time for the Atlanta Hawks
Collins finished the game with zero points on 0-for-9 shooting including 0-for-5 from three-point range. It’s the first time in his five-year career that he has finished any game with no field goals made. For what it’s worth, he did log two points by way of a trip to the free-throw line and hauled in five rebounds.
But he was so ineffective that, with 4:50 left on the clock in the third quarter, Nate McMillan subbed out the high-flying forward who would not be heard from again in this one. The Hawks trailed Milwaukee 85-73 at the time.
They outscored the Bucks 42-39 from that point on.
It wasn’t just offensively either. Collins was bad on both ends of the floor in a way that is atypical of such a versatile player.
He’s credited with allowing the Bucks trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Bobby Portis to combine for 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. They were 0-for-1 from deep in his coverage but did get a couple of free throws courtesy of Collins fouling Antetokounmpo. Collins finished with the second-worst defensive rating of the night behind Kevin Huerter.
After the game, McMillan spoke on his reasoning behind rolling without Collins – who signed a five-year, $125 million deal this offseason – in the waning moments even before he sent in rookie Jalen Johnson; which is a veritable white flag of concession for McMillan.
He was very to the point.
"“I liked the lineup that was out there. I thought that small unit was giving some things, so I stayed with that rotation.” Nate McMillan via Chris Kirschner/The Athletic"
His coach didn’t say it, but Collins’ performance likely made the decision and easy one for McMillan who wound up getting tossed in the fourth quarter following a questionable sequence of officiating that saw Antetokounmpo bowl over Clint Capela on one end before De’Andre Hunter picked up an offensive call on the other.
We’ve been lauding Collins all season for his versatility and improvement this season. But this was an awful game before even getting into his history. It was especially disappointing given his previous two outings and how many times the Hawks got the lead down to single digits.
He’d averaged 17.5 points and 9.0 boards in two prior meetings with the Bucks this season too.
The Hawks have gone 3-3 in games that Collins has missed and their offensive rating is the same with or without him this season.
He has been a (very) slight positive defensively, posting a plus-0.01 differential in opponents’ offensive rating when he sits. And, per Cleaning the Glass, he has had more of a positive impact on the Hawks defense than De’Andre Hunter this season with an on-off differential of plus.2.3 though some of that is because of who they are guarding.
In his career, Collins has made one shot eight times. He has scored just two points in a game four times including Wednesday.
dark. Next. The Hawks are using Kevin Huerter differently
Collins should bounce back. He has to be better if the Hawks want to make any sort of noise in the postseason. But, more importantly, if he wants to be seen as a top option on this team and a part of the future after being mentioned in many trade rumors before this year’s deadline.