The Atlanta Hawks have rotation minutes up for grabs with John Collins out

The Atlanta Hawks were able to squeak out two wins in their back to back against the Indiana Pacers and then the Portland Trail Blazers. Both of these nights the Hawks were without their starting power forward, John Collins.

The big man’s finger looks like he should take the rest of the season off. Howeverm he is showing why he is such a valued teammate as he is weighing up whether he would be helpful or a hinderence to his team if he played. Given that this could mean further issues down the track, he is showing commitment above and beyond.

However, the Hawks were dealt another blow at the power forward position against the Blazers when Danilo Gallinari was ruled out with Achilles soreness. This meant that the Hawks went small-ball with Clint Capela as an anchor. It also meant that there were minutes up for grabs later in the game.

The Atlanta Hawks used both their deep bench forwards.

Both Kevin Knox and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot got time against the Blazers and they were reasonably effective. Knox played six minutes, missing all three of his field goal attempts. He collected three rebounds, including two on the offensive end and dished out an assist.

Luwawu-Cabarrot played just under eight minutes and was more effective on the offensive end of the court.going 2-of-4 from the floor, including 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. He also collected five points. Not a bad return for someone who appeared to be totally out of the rotation at the time of the Cam Reddish trade.

If Collins does not play for the rest of the season then the Hawks will be looking to back fill some of his minutes with either of these players. Hopefully they will continue to provide a level of production off the bench which will benefit the Hawks in the long term.

However, there is one other option which would be an even greater for the Hawks. That would be to recall rookie Jalen Johnson from the G League and play him. He has greater size than either of the other two and his confidence is sky-high at the moment.