Kingston Flemings Makes First NBA Start for Hawks After Suspension

Kingston Flemings, the No. 8 pick in June’s draft, starts at point guard for the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night in Washington. He has never opened an NBA regular-season game.

CJ McCollum moves to the bench after handing out 12 assists in Monday’s win at Indiana. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Luguentz Dort, and Onyeka Okongwu start with Flemings.

For a second straight game, Atlanta will be without Jalen Johnson. He sprained his left ankle in the third quarter Saturday at New Orleans, where the Hawks lost 121-99, and never came back in. Monday’s 108-104 win over the Indiana Pacers was the first game he had sat out all season.

Jock Landale is also out with a left hip strain, Mouhamed Gueye has a fractured left foot, and Henri Veesaar is done for the year after tearing his right ACL.

Atlanta News First and Peachtree Sports Network have the 7 p.m. ET tip-off at Capital One Arena.

James Jones, the NBA’s head of basketball operations, announced the suspension Nov. 1. It was one game without pay.

Flemings had 12 points Saturday when, with 3:04 to go in the fourth quarter, he threw an elbow at the head of Pelicans guard Bryce McGowens as the two ran back up the floor. Officials went to the monitor, gave him a technical foul, and ejected him.

Sitting out Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse cost him $42,234. That is 1/174th of his $7,348,680 salary.

At Houston, Flemings became the first freshman in program history to earn All-America honors. He is 19.

In all seven of his NBA games he has come off the bench, averaging 7.1 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in 20.3 minutes. From the field he is at 47.6%, and from 3-point range he is at 38.5%.

Against Miami on Oct. 28, Flemings scored a career-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Fourteen came in the fourth quarter, and Hawks coach Quin Snyder kept him on the floor to close the 129-117 loss while McCollum sat.

McCollum is someone Snyder wants to talk to all the time, and communication with his players is essential to him.

“Kingston did a terrific job,” Snyder said. “I think this is part of the process for him. This is a long runway, as I’ve said. And CJ’s been — it’s not about any one player. It’s really not. Tonight, Kingston gave us a lift. He was pushing the ball, and he made some good things happen.”

“We talked about it as the coaching staff. CJ knows how we feel about him,” Snyder continued. “He’s crucial to us being who we want to be.”

Who starts and who finishes is not something Snyder wants to fixate on.

“It felt like we were throwing CJ in a tough situation, putting him in cold at that point,” Snyder explained. “So, as I said, CJ is all about the team and the team winning.”

“I think CJ more than anyone understands, with his professionalism and his career, but our whole team — that’s part of having depth on any given night,” Snyder continued. “Hopefully you have guys that can lift your level. Tonight was Kingston and other guys as well. That’s how we can be a good team, having that depth and versatility and guys getting behind one another. You saw that tonight. Nobody’s more supportive of Kingston than CJ.”

Alexander-Walker also scored 23 against the Heat, going 5-of-9 from deep. He said the rookie got Atlanta within striking distance that night.

“I just work with him every day,” Alexander-Walker said. “So seeing his mindset, seeing his aggression, the way he competed tonight was amazing. He provided energy, came in aggressive, played to his strengths, got the team within striking distance in multiple ways, and his force and everything was amazing.”

Wednesday is not the first time Flemings has opened a game for Atlanta. He started the Oct. 5 preseason opener against Memphis when McCollum missed with a nose contusion, then started again Oct. 12 against Oklahoma City with McCollum resting.

McCollum is in his 14th NBA season, and Portland drafted him 10th overall in 2013. He went 4-of-17 on Monday and finished a rebound shy of a triple-double.

Flemings does not try to look too much at the rotation. As long as he is on the court, he does what he does to help the team win.

“Otherworldly, to be honest,” Flemings said of McCollum’s support. “Him and Nickeil, I work out with them almost every single day, taking bits and pieces. For CJ to be playing this long at this high of a level, it’s not easy to do. You see a lot of players doing it. You don’t even see a lot of players doing it.”

“But just CJ, the things he’s done. He’s in my ear all the time,” Flemings continued. “Every timeout when he’s on the bench, just telling me what he sees, offense, defense, helping me in those ways. So just invaluable having players like him on the team. I’m grateful for it.”

Dort took Johnson’s spot in the lineup Monday and keeps it in Washington. Against the Pacers, he went 4-of-6 from 3-point range on the way to 14 points.

Nobody on the roster averages more rebounds or assists than Johnson, at 9.0 and 7.9 a game. He also scores 18.3 points.

Alexander-Walker’s 34 points Monday were a season high. Nine of his 12 field goals were 3-pointers, matching his career best, and he needed 15 tries from deep to get there. Atlanta hit 15 3-pointers before halftime, tying the franchise record for a half.

Daniels grabbed 6 of the Hawks’ 17 offensive rebounds and finished with 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. With 10.2 seconds left, Okongwu hit a 12-foot driving hook off a McCollum pass to make it 108-104. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The win put Atlanta at 4-4, seventh in the Eastern Conference. Washington is 4-3 and leads the Southeast Division by a half-game.

Trae Young is with the Wizards after Atlanta traded him to Washington last season in the deal that brought McCollum to the Hawks.

The teams play again Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Atlanta. The Hawks host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.