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Going back to back against the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks pulled away with a win in the second game during Tuesday night's matchup. However, they accomplished this feat with power forward, John Collins, sitting on the bench. Trae Young and Nate McMillan both shared their opinion on what was going on with the Hawks in that final stretch, as Collins' benching was speculated that he may not be getting along with his team. However, it seems to be the exact opposite.
Trae on Collins tonight: "JC got us to that point."
Echoed the sentiment about him being a good teammate in 4Q. https://t.co/r45H1vN01m
— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) March 3, 2021
Even Nate McMillan stepped in, voicing his opinion on why Collins rode the pine during the fourth quarter.
McMillan on Collins not playing the 4th: “It wasn’t that he wasn’t playing well, it was just we had a rhythm, we were scoring, we were stopping and when they went small and put four guards on the floor, we made an adjustment and put Solo in the game to match up defensively."
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) March 3, 2021
Basketball is a game of mismatches. Wherever a team has the advantage, they'll utilize it until the opposing defense figures out how to stop them. During Tuesday night's game, the Hawks followed through with what was working for them, which meant keeping John Collins sidelined. For this reason, Atlanta was able to match up defensively, which ultimately led to their victory.
This is something seen in the NBA all the time, however, it's not usually a star player sitting out. In this instance, Collins was likely too slow to match up against the Heat's four guards running up and down the court. It was a smart move by head coach Nate McMillan, as his decision to bench Collins led to a victory against the Heat.
Don't expect this to become a regular thing, as this coaching decision seems to have been utilized for the Heat. We may see other organizations attempt to play small-ball against the Hawks, as their way of potentially preventing John Collins from being on the court.
We're likely to see John Collins finish in the fourth quarter during Wednesday night's game against the Orlando Magic, a team that's a better matchup for John Collins.
