As the 10th-seed in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks are fighting for their playoff lives entering the final stretch of the NBA regular season. For the time being, they’re doing so without John Collins, who is dealing with a right foot strain that has kept him out for the past five games.
It remains to be seen if Collins will be able to suit up for the Hawks contest in Boston tomorrow or Thursday’s matchup with the Bulls in Atlanta. Joining Andy & Randy on 92.9 The Game this morning, head coach Nate McMillan updated the status of the Hawks’ big man.
“He’s been doing limited work as far as on the floor. Today, he did walk through some things. He’s doing shooting but nothing live. No type of contact right now for John. We’re hoping to get him back at soon as possible,” he said.
While the Hawks miss Collins’ nearly 17 points and 8 rebounds per game, McMillan told the guys that it’s his energy on both ends of the floor and his ability to “make things happen" that they miss the most.
“John is probably one of our, if not our best random player that we have on the team. What I mean by that is that he just creates opportunity with his energy and running around, setting screens and attacking the offensive glass. We’re playing basketball without really calling a lot of sets," he said.
McMillan is stressing the ‘next man up’ mentality during Collins’ absence but admits that there is always a challenge when replacing a member of the starting rotation.
“Both he and Trae, that connection has been good over the last few years and that’s one of our main options is those two guys in a two-man game. Defensively, he allows us to be able to switch. We can play small but not feel as small. Sometimes we’re playing John at the five with Gallo at the four and were able to get John in pick and rolls and spread the floor with Gallo. It gives us different options. It allows Gallo to go back to his position coming off the bench which makes our bench even stronger when he’s in that rotation. So, we lose a lot when you lose a guy like John," McMillan said.
Sitting at 29-31, the Hawks are running out of time to make a push to avoid the play-in tournament. To do so, the Hawks would have to make their way up to the 6th-seed which is currently occupied by the Boston Celtics at 36-27.
