On Thursday evening, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks evened up their record on the 2023-24 season at 9-9 with a narrow 137-135 road victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs had a chance late to either tie or take the lead after Jeremy Sochan stole the ball on a Hawks' inbound; however, Young beat Sochan to the painted area and was able to draw a crucial offensive foul to seal the victory for Atlanta.
Young has shown noticeable improvements in both tactics and effort on defense since Quin Snyder took over, and after the victory over the Spurs, Snyder made sure to hit back at the narrative surrounding Young's less-than-favorable defensive reputation.
“Let's go ahead and change the narrative right now,” said Snyder, per Brad Rowland. “Trae Young taking a charge at the end of a game. It's a big-time play… Hell of a play by Trae.”
Snyder also took the time to address the Hawks' outlook on defense as a whole, especially in the absence of Jalen Johnson.
“We talk about defense with our team,” said Snyder. “We're not always the best defensive team. But we're going to improve if we keep working. There's some limitations. There's no question about that right now with [Johnson] out.”
To say that the Hawks aren't always the best defensive team would be an understatement; however, there is something to be said about a team's best player stepping up and making a play on that end of the floor when it's needed most.
Up next for the Hawks is a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 2.
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