Subscribe
Follow Us
ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks won their second game of the season against the Charlotte Hornets, and Trae Young once again pulled out his heroics to lead them to the 125-120 victory. Young finished with 38 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds, and four steals, which led to a historic feat that only he and Oscar Robertson have accomplished.
Young and Robertson are the only two players in NBA history to have back-to-back games with 30 points and 10 assists to start a season. After the game, Young talked about the accomplishment and how he's been able to achieve these stats early in the season.
“It’s just about reads. I don’t feel like it’s ever going to change. When I come off of screens, it’s up to me to make the right reads, and sometimes I mess up and I don’t,” Young said. “For me, it’s making the right reads, and my teammates are making plays. [De’Andre] had a hell of a game tonight, Dyson [Daniels], a career-high for him. Guys are making plays; it’s not just me out there making plays.”
Young knows that the points and assists are going to come, but it's the things on the defensive side of the ball that he takes pride in the most.
“I think he's probably more proud of the rebounds and his defense than he is the other end,” head coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “The Seth Curry matchup is a tough matchup. There are times when people put him in the pick-and-roll, and he just battled.”
“It’s good. It’s not going to be the same every night, but you want to strive to have that every night,” Young said. “I know I’m not going to get eight rebounds every night, but there are certain nights that need me to go do that. They were tipping the ball out a lot, and they still got too many offensive rebounds.”
The Hornets did have a lot of offensive rebounds (22), which led to most of the second-chance points (24), but the Hawks were able to overcome and execute down the stretch to get the win. It also helped that LaMelo Ball fouled out in the fourth quarter, who had 34 points, and shot 9-of-14 from three. Young being as smart as he is, he was the one who forced the sixth foul on Ball.
“I know a lot of things going on on the court,” Young said when asked if he knew if Ball had six fouls. “He had five fouls, so it was smart to continue to go at him. I knew he was screening, so just try to chase over the screen, try to get a moving screen on him, and that's what he did.”
Hawks start 2-0 on the season with win vs Hornets
It was a total team effort for the Hawks, and several players stepped up to help them get the win. De'Andre Hunter finished the game with 24 points and seven rebounds, as he's had a strong start to the season.
“The work I put in during the summer. Being confident in it, trusting in it, and my teammates find me in the right spot, and I try my best to make the shot,” Hunter said.
Dyson Daniels continued to showcase his defensive prowess in this game being tasked with guarding LaMelo Ball, but it was his offense that stood out tonight, finishing with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
The Hawks will have a tough task in their next game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and hopefully, they can continue their good habits on the road.
