Collins dominates, Hawks fall to Pelicans in Summer League Tournament, 105-95

The Atlanta Hawks won’t be 2017 Summer League champions. On Wednesday, the team fell at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans by a final score of 105-95 in the tournament opener and, while the Hawks will play again later in the week, it will be as part of the losers bracket.

The Hawks got off to a flying start, taking a solid lead after a 12-0 run in the first quarter.

From there, it was the John Collins experience on full blast, with the rookie knocking down a three (!!!) and finishing yet another dunk.

In terms of the scoreboard result, things got away from the Hawks for the rest of the half and that could be directly tied to the absence of Collins. The first round pick put up a dazzling 15 points (on 6 of 6 shooting) and six rebounds in the first half but he played only 9:35 and the Hawks trailed by a 57-43 margin at the break.

After falling into an 18-point hole in the third quart, Atlanta did not fold up the tent, instead slashing the margin to just eight points at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter did not go quite as well, however, aside from a ridiculous dunk from Collins.

Collins finished the day with a dominant showing, scoring 25 points (on 11 of 15 shooting) and adding nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Elsewhere, Taurean Prince (18 points), DeAndre’ Bembry (13 points, four rebounds) and Ryan Kelly (11 points, four rebounds) joined him in double figures. With the loss, the Hawks will play on Friday afternoon (4:00 pm ET) against the loser of Wednesday’s game between the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.

Stay tuned.