Hawks Swat Hornets 113-91. Trae Young Scores 30 Points
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Recap
Make it four straight wins for the Atlanta Hawks. Each victory came against a playoff team. Clearly, the Hawks have plenty more work to do. But there is no denying they have looked much better over the past week.
Tonight, the Hawks embarrassed the Charlotte Hornets 113-91. The Hornets entered the game with a top-ranking in pace, points, and offensive rating. However, they shot 4-36 (11.4%) from deep. Their frustration was tangible, as LaMelo Ball picked up a technical foul, and Kelly Oubre Jr. was ejected after a cheap shot on De'Andre Hunter, who left the game early.
The Hawks would not be deterred by the Hornets' hysterical behavior. Before leaving due to the hard foul, Hunter accrued an efficient 20 points and 3 steals. Trae Young dropped 30 points (8-15 3PT) in his closing argument for Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Once again, the Hawks bench played well. The bench was cleared except for Gorgui Dieng. Not only did each reserve player score, but they all netted a positive box plus/minus.
As we expected, the Hornets played at a frenetic pace. They won the battle of the boards, scored more points in the paint, and got far too many easy points in transition. Luckily, they couldn't set a shot in the ocean if they were sitting in a boat. Kind of like that Sandra Bullock movie where she was blindfolded, except even more frustrating.
Post-Game Interviews
The first thing everyone wanted to know was the status of De'Andre Hunter. Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said, "He's wrapped up in ice right now. Hopefully, he will be okay. I think it's his side, everything. He had ice on his shoulder. He kept that whole side..." McMillan provided a little more clarification. "He was able to move around a little bit in the locker room, but he was wrapped up in ice."
Trae Young sat down at the podium in his signature Adidas hoodie and game face still intact. Young said, "We just got to keep it going. We've had a couple games in a row now where we've really focused and been locked into detail and went out and executed the game plan. So we just got to stay locked in and not be satisfied with winning a couple in a row. We got to keep going and keep having that same energy we've been playing with the last couple games."
The last player to take the podium was none other than De'Andre Hunter himself. Luckily, the young player took it all in stride. When asked about his injury, he said, "I'm a little sore right now. But nothing too serious. I should be fine in the next couple days."
The Hawks are heading back home tonight. Their next game is Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings. As always, we will have plenty of content for you in the meantime. Stay locked in Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.
Stats
Hawks Leaders
Trae Young - 30 PTS, 4 AST
De'Andre Hunter - 20 PTS, 3 STL
Kevin Huerter - 11PTS, 2 AST
Hornets Leaders
Miles Bridges - 19 PTS, 6 REB
LaMelo Ball - 19 PTS, 6 REB
Kelly Oubre, Jr, - 12 PTS, 5 REB
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