Hawks rookie John Collins notched the first double-double of his NBA career on Sunday and he hopes it's the first of many more.
The 6-foot-10 rookie out of Wake Forest tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench in the Hawks' 116-104 loss at Brooklyn.
"It felt good out there," said Collins, who was 5 of 11 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. "Running up and down the court, do what I usually do, be active around the rim, crash the glass, dunk the ball, went to the free line, so it felt like a normal Wake Forest day. Hopefully that happens a lot more."
Collins just about averaged a double-double in his lone season at Wake Forest, posting 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. That helped lead to the Hawks selecting him with the 19th pick in the NBA Draft.
He had 14 points and five rebounds in a season-opening road win at Dallas but was limited to five points and two rebounds while fouling out of a loss at Charlotte.
Now he'll look for his second straight double-double on Monday at Miami, a game where the Hawks will likely be without point guard Dennis Schroder, who suffered a left ankle injury in the loss.
Asked if he thinks he'll pile up more double-doubles, Collins said: "Sure, if I continue to play like I did today with that level of activity on both ends, defensively and offensively, yeah definitely."
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was impressed with what he saw from the rookie.
"I thought there were some positives for John," he said. "His athleticism and everything and some things to learn from. "
Collins, 20, is still adjusting to the speed and physicality of NBA play. On one play, former Hawk DeMarre Carroll (17 points) snuck in and grabbed a rebound from Collins and then went down and hit a corner 3-pointer.
"Just those things where you're young to the league, you're learning every possession to hold onto things," Budenholzer said. "But overall I thought John had a lot of positives."
