Collins leads young Hawks into matchup vs. Blazers

The Atlanta Hawks play at the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night with much more optimism than at the beginning of the season.

After a 6-23 start, the Hawks have split their past 18 games, including a 121-101 triumph at the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday to start a seven-game road trip.

John Collins has been the ringleader of late. The 6-10, 235-pound forward hit 14 of 16 shots from the field -- including 4 of 4 from 3-point range -- and scored a career-high 35 points with eight rebounds in only 29 minutes against Chicago.

Collins, 21, was constantly on the move, diving the basket for layups and dunks, stepping out to knock down 3-pointers.

"It's a big part of my game, moving without the ball," Collins told reporters. "I have unselfish guys on my team who are able to find me."

Collins, in his second NBA season, is averaging 19.3 points and 10.3 rebounds. He is part of a young nucleus that gives the Hawks reason to believe the future is bright. Rookie guards Trae Young and Kevin Huerter, both 20, have played beyond their years.

Young is averaging 15.9 points and 7.3 assists. Huerter, however, is questionable for Saturday's game, having missed the past two games with a sore neck.

"He just needs a little more time," Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce said. "Nothing to be concerned about."

The Trail Blazers are coming off a 120-106 win Thursday at Phoenix, a game in which the Suns -- at 11-39 the worst team in the Western Conference -- hung around for nearly three quarters.

"That's part of being a good team, playing two halves and making the adjustments you need to make," said guard Damian Lillard, who led the Blazers with 24 points. "We weathered that bad stretch in the first half and went into the half with a lead. And we came out how we needed to in the second half and handled business."

Portland coach Terry Stotts said: "Damian had a really good floor game. He controlled (the game) when things weren't going well offensively. He got to the rim and got his hands on a lot of balls. His leadership was really good when we weren't playing our best basketball.

"The first half was frustrating. We missed a lot of shots at the rim early on. We gave up too many transition points in the first quarter. We played much better in the second half."

Portland had 25 assists against Phoenix, reaching that level for the 11th time in the last 14 games. The Blazers are 16-3 this season when they hit the 25-assist mark.

"We were last in the league in assists for a while," Stotts said. "It's good to see the ball moving and guys trusting each other."

Guard Nik Stauskas sat out the Phoenix game with a sore left knee and is doubtful for Saturday. Forward

Al-Farouq Aminu dislocated his left pinky finger in the first quarter and left the game. He had it popped into place, however, and started the second half.

Aminu is expected to be available against the Hawks.

--Field Level Media