Atlanta Hawks Player Grades: CJ McCollum, Jonathan Kuminga's Performance Against New York

Against all odds, we have an even series between the Hawks and the Knicks.

Atlanta had a disappointing game one loss and it looked like it was all but certain to be followed up with another tough loss to a very talented New York team, but Atlanta dominated the 4th quarter of the game and eeked out a one point win against the third seeded Knicks.

There were some standout peformers from this game, but how did everyone grade out in this game two win for Atlanta?

CJ McCollum- A

McCollum was the star of the show on Monday night, scoring 32 points on 12-22 shooting and coming alive in the 4th quarter with some clutch buckets. Not only that, but McCollum has seemingly taken the place of Trae Young as the least favorite member of the Atlanta Hawks.

McCollum was not always great defensively and the missed free throws at the end of the game could have been costly, but what he did everywhere else was great and he was the Hawks best player last night.

Dyson Daniels- C

It was an odd game for Daniels.

He struggled with foul trouble in this game and while his defense was sharp as usual, he did not make any impact on offense. While his shooting gets critiqued, Daniels does a lot of things really well for the Hawks on that end, but he could not find it last night. The Hawks opted to close the game with McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jalen Johnson, Jonathan Kuminga, and Onyeka Okongwu instead.

Daniels still has a large role to play in this series, but this was a bit of an uneven game.

Onyeka Okongwu- C

Okongwu also was in foul trouble, but I think he did enough when he was on the court and had some crucial late game stops to get the win for the Hawks at the end of the day.

Okongwu scored 15 points and eight rebounds on 6-9 shooting (2-3 from three) and played solid defense in the 29 minutes that he played, but it is fair to expect more of him when this series shifts to Atlanta.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker: C+

On one hand, Alexander-Walker is going to have to play better if the Hawks want to actually win this series and he only had nine points last night on 3-12 shooting. He has been one of the Hawks best scorers this season and Atlanta needs much more from him going forward.

On the other hand, Alexander-Walker hit a clutch three late in the game (the only three of the second half for Atlanta) and got a crucial steal on Jalen Brunson to give the Hawks a late four point lead. He was pretty good guarding Brunson last night, but it is fair to point out that the Hawks need more from him on the offensive end going forward.

Jalen Johnson- D

Johnson was well on his way to earning an "F" here in the first half after a four point, no field goal performance in the first half, but he managed to somewhat salvage his night.

Johnson's defense has been a major issue in the first two games and his lack of assertiveness on offense and the fact that he can't get by Josh Hart is problematic for the Hawks. The good thing is that Atlanta leaves New York with the series tied 1-1 and Johnson has not played well, but it is hard to imagine the Hawks winning this series if Johnson cannot improve.

Jonathan Kuminga- A

Kuminga was the Hawks second best player last night and he was very good on both ends of the floor. He finished with 19 points and he closed the game for the Hawks and did a tremendous job guarding Karl-Anthony Towns.

Kuminga can be hot or cold from game to game, but this version of him is the one the Hawks need and he looks like he is going to play a very important part of this series for Atlanta.

Gabe Vincent- D

Vincent was not terrible, but made no real impact on the game in his 14 minutes. He played solid defense and hit one three, which is what the Hawks have come to expect from Vincent.

Tony Bradley: B-

This might be a surprising grade, but Bradley was forced into action last night and played fairly well. Atlanta had a higher defensive rebounding rate when he was in and he helped when Mitchell Robinson was on the floor.

Corey Kispert: B-

Kispert was a +10 in his nearly nine minute stint last night and while that is not all him to be clear, he did hold up enough on defense and scored four points. He was in the game to help score and he did that while not getting ripped apart on defense.

Mo Gueye- Incomplete

Gueye only played four minutes after being injured in his first stint with the team last night.

Add us as a preferred source on Google