CJ McCollum Has Put the Atlanta Hawks On His Back
Entering the series, CJ McCollum had by far the most playoff experience on the Atlanta Hawks roster. He is using that experience to lead the Hawks through their first two games against the New York Knicks. Going into the series, all eyes were on Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson to have big performances.
However, it has been McCollum who has taken charge of the Hawks’ offense. In just two games against New York in the regular season, McCollum only scored 22 points total. This included scoring just five points in 22 minutes as a Washington Wizard in November.
Based on these numbers, one wouldn’t expect McCollum to have the impact that he is having so far, but he is determined to put Atlanta on his back and lead them throughout the series. CJ McCollum Is Not a Focal Point Going into the series, it was clear that New York was more focused on shutting down both Johnson and Alexander-Walker. To their credit, it has worked.
In Game 1 , Alexander-Walker shot just 3-of-12 from the floor and 1-of-4 from three. He came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, but the Hawks’ comeback fell short as they lost 113-102. Game 2 was more of the same for Alexander-Walker as he shot 3-of-12 from the field and scored just nine points, a far cry from his 36-point outburst against the Knicks just two weeks prior.
Johnson has also had his struggles in the series. In Game 1, he was not playing as aggressively as he needed to be. Instead of getting to the rim and putting pressure on New York’s interior defense, Johnson opted for post fadeaway jump shots.
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