CJ McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have spent the last two and a half months turning Atlanta’s starting group into one of the league’s most productive units, and the Hawks are leaning into it. Since McCollum was moved into the starting lineup on Feb. 22, the pair has anchored a unit that has helped lift Atlanta from the 10th seed to the top six after the All-Star break.
The numbers are hard to miss. Lineups featuring McCollum and Alexander-Walker rank in the 98th percentile in point differential at plus-15.6, the 95th percentile in offense at 123.9 points per 100 possessions and the 94th percentile in defense at 107.9 points per 100 possessions. Together, they give the Hawks' starting unit 14 years of playoff experience, a veteran edge that has shown up as the season has tightened.
That growth was not immediate. McCollum, a 12-year veteran, said the adjustment took time, and he had already spent years watching the Hawks before the team acquired him in January. He said the club’s pace and spacing fit what he expected, but fitting into it required patience. McCollum averaged 18.7 points and 4.1 assists over 41 regular-season games with Atlanta, numbers that reflect both his scoring and the way he has helped steady the offense.
The Hawks were looking to capitalize on their most productive lineup when they inserted McCollum into the starting group, and the fit has only sharpened since. The unit of McCollum, Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu had one of the best net ratings in the league, a stretch that lined up with the team’s climb after the All-Star break. Okongwu said it took some time for everyone to get on the same page, but the continuity made the difference once it arrived.
McCollum said the team always plays fast and with space and pace, and Snyder joked that he has defended more than expected. That is the friction point that matters now: Atlanta’s surge was not built on a seamless overnight adjustment, but on a veteran core that learned to fit together quickly enough to change the shape of the season.
