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The Atlanta Hawks had forward John Collins, the West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman product, back in their mix for Sunday’s playoff opener against the Miami Heat at FTX Arena.
Collins had been sidelined since March 11 with a sprained right ring finger and a strained right foot.
Collins’ return comes in the wake of Hawks starting center Clint Capela being sidelined with a hyperextended right knee sustained in the Friday night road play-in victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers that advanced the Hawks into this series.
Capela is expected to be reevaluated in a week.
Also out for the Hawks was veteran guard Lou Williams, due to lower-back discomfort.
The Heat had a clean sheet with their injury report.
Collins did not start, with Atlanta going with an opening lineup of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Danilo Gallinari and Onyeka Okongwu, who opened in place of Capela.
All four Heat players listed as questionable earlier in the day were available: P.J. Tucker (calf), Dewayne Dedmon (ankle), Markieff Morris (hip) and Haywood Highsmith (hip.)
That had all 17 players on the roster healthy. Two-way players Mychal Mulder and Javonte Smart, however, are ineligible for the playoffs.
Strus starts
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra remained with the starting lineup he shifted to at the close of the regular season.
That had Max Strus remaining in the opening mix, along with Tucker, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry.
The Heat closed the season 3-0 with that starting lineup.
Twin peek
Cody Martin, the Charlotte Hornets forward and twin brother of Heat forward Caleb Martin, was among those in the crowd.
Cody, whose team was eliminated by the Hawks in Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference play-in opener, visited with the Heat bench before the game.
(This story will be updated throughout the game.)
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