So, the Hawks beat Philadelphia in seven games and all John Collins got was a terrific t-shirt. It was a custom job, a print of his massive dunk over the Sixers’ Joel Embiid, along with an offhand-to-the-face dismissal of the Philly big man. He proudly wore it for all the world to see when the upset was done.
Just three days later, it already is time, after his 23-point, 15-rebound game at Milwaukee in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, to consider an addition to his wardrobe. After all, his was a big and loud contribution to another defiant Hawks victory on the road.
If he were inclined to put out a line of John vs. Milwaukee shirts – and, in truth, he says more shirts are unlikely unless someone lights a certain fire in him as did Embiid - he’s got all manner of Wednesday night images from which to choose. He’d have to put a graphic artist on retainer.
So many moments from this night that perhaps he’d have to consider a collage. Throw out there the complete collection of all three of his third-quarter dunks at the money end of an ally-oop play. Each one was another beat on the big bass drum of belief that lifts his team and dispirits the opponent.
One of his Wednesday dunks, a fancy number off the backboard from who else but Trae Young, was particularly satisfying. The judges all gave it a 9.9.
“He knew it was coming,” Young smiled. “He knows the difference between one of my floaters and one of my passes off the backboard. That’s just the connection we have. It’s fun playing with him.” Fun is a commodity hard to come by for some teams this time of season, but not these Hawks.
Such plays underscore the important relationship between these two. While not divulging how, Collins knew all along that was no floater coming out of Young’s hand, but rather a pass off the glass.
“We got great chemistry,” Collins said. “I understand when he likes to throw certain passes and when he likes to do whatever. I think we’ve built that on and off the court to get to this point.”
“We obviously have room to grow and get better in certain areas but we are sort of at the we-know-each-other stage without speaking,” Collins said. “I’m reading his mind and he knows what I like to do. We really don’t need to say much, we just really need to have opportunities to catch flow, catch a rhythm. I felt we did that tonight and it’s easy to see.”
Collins hit only one of five 3-pointers (but 10 of 11 inside the arc). Still, the one 3 he made was memorable. A kick-out to him on the corner, with 1:38 to play and his team down by four.
They can’t put videos on a shirt, not yet, but were it possible, a sequence with three minutes left would work, when he grabbed one of his five offensive rebounds, gaining another possession that he finished with a cutting layup.
Yes, the offensive rebounds. Collins particularly liked those.
Picking out his favorite contribution to Wednesday, Collins said, “For me it’s the offensive rebounding. Those are extra possessions. I feel it gets the team going, the energy on the team going. Those are gritty plays, plays that win games.
“Trying to find ways for our team to win makes me happy.”
When the Bucks’ switching style of defense presented the Hawks with mismatches to exploit, Collins was often in the middle of those situations. And the Hawks, for being so young, are so adept at quickly identifying these opportunities. They are like sharks in bloodied water that way.
“I thought he was great tonight,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said of Collins. “Tonight, we had to do a good job of finding our matchups. They were switching a lot, we were patient and we found our matchups. John had some matchups in the paint and did a solid job of scoring when he had the matchups in the paint.”
And as for the humble duty of defense, Collins “did a really good job again, defending the ball,” McMillan said.
“He had to defend three positions tonight. He was on (Khris) Middleton and he was on (Brook) Lopez and he had Giannis (Antetokounmpo). He did a solid job.”
The world keeps making the Hawks underdogs, and they keep upsetting the narrative. Collins was asked, what don’t they get about this team?
“I feel like a lot of people haven’t watched us until now. That’s a big part of it, to be frank,” he said. Playing for his next contract, Collins is happy to let everyone in on what he and this team can do.
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