Hawks bench players finding a groove with additions to roster

The Hawks have gotten some big lifts from their second unit this season.

The Hawks’ bench players have outscored their opponent’s bench in half the team’s games this season — in 24 of the 48 games the Hawks have played through Tuesday.

In the games where the Hawks’ bench has had smaller production than their opponent’s bench, they have an 8-16 record. But in the 24 games where the Hawks’ bench outscores their opponent’s bench, they are 15-9.

The Hawks, though, have gotten a bit of a boost with the addition of veteran guard CJ McCollum. Before the team’s acquisition of McCollum earlier this month, the Hawks’ bench had even more deficiencies in scoring because they depended on hot shooting nights from Vit Krejci or Luke Kennard.

They ranked 18th in the NBA in bench scoring, averaging only 34.9 points per game.

McCollum has added some stability to the Hawks’ second unit after the team had to elevate Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the starting five after the injury to former guard Trae Young earlier this season. That took away a bulk of the team’s bench scoring, with Alexander-Walker averaging a career-best in points per game.

The Hawks’ bench took another hit when they moved center Onyeka Okongwu to the starting lineup, with veteran big Kristaps Porzingis dealing with several ailments.

Like Alexander-Walker, Okongwu has put up a career season in scoring, especially as the Hawks have bumped him out to the perimeter more frequently.

But since McCollum made his Hawks debut Jan. 11, the team has not seen as much of a dropoff in scoring when it begins to cycle in the second unit. Over those past eight games, the Hawks have gone 4-4 and have the ninth-best bench-scoring unit, averaging 42 points per game.

McCollum, who is coming off the bench for the first time in 11 years, checked with his older brother, Errick McCollum — who has played internationally since 2010 — for advice on how to make the most of it.

“He’s like, ‘You got to really read the game,’” CJ McCollum said after Monday’s win over the Pacers. “But he’s like, ‘You got to be extra aggressive.’ He’s like, ‘You know how you like to ease your way in and stuff?’ He’s like, ‘You can’t be easing your way in because you’re halfway through the first quarter and then probably coming out.’

“So that was helpful, just to kind of hear from him. That’s, like, my mentor. I model myself after him.”

While McCollum has added plenty of shooting and a reliable scorer at the end of games, he also has opened the floor for some of the team’s other shooters, like Kennard. Since Jan. 11, Kennard has shot 63% from 3 on 3.9 attempts from deep.

But McCollum hasn’t been the only upgrade for the Hawks over the last week. The team signed center Christian Koloko to a two-way contract Jan. 16, and it has given the team a huge lift in the frontcourt.

The Hawks now have more rim protection, but also another big who can give them offense down low. Koloko exceeded his career high in points Monday, scoring 12 on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field.

The team also has won three consecutive games since the 25-year-old made his Hawks debut Jan. 21 against the Grizzlies.

The bench’s uptick in production could be the spark for them to turn the corner. The Hawks sit only one game behind the Bulls for ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings and are only 2½ games from climbing to the sixth seed, with 34 games left to play.