Trae Young and Onyeka Okongwu's Big Performances Lift the Hawks Past Phoenix 122-117 at Home

Atlanta was not going to allow the Suns to beat them twice in a row.

After having five days in between matchups, the Hawks and the Suns clashed in Atlanta tonight and the starpower was on full display. Trae Young had 43 points, Kevin Durant had 31 and Devin Booker had 35 points for the Suns. It was not Phoenix that came out on top this time though, it was the Hawks, who were even more shorthanded than they were in the last game. Atlanta was without Jalen Johnson and De'Andre Hunter tonight, but they got huge games from their supporting cast around Young, notably Onyeka Okongwu, VIt Krejc and Garrison Matthews.

Atlanta has had one of the best benches in the NBA this season, but they did not have Hunter and Bogdanovic did not shoot well tonight. Okongwu became the first ever Hawk to record a 20 point, 20-rebound game off the bench (22 points and 21 rebounds), Matthews had 19 points on 5-8 shooting from three, and Krejci had his best game of the season with 15 points, six assists, and five rebounds. To survive a game where Booker and Durant did what they did was going to take a big effort from some unlikely players and the Hawks got that tonight.

They also got a big performance from their star point guard. Young had a season-high 43 points and he made sure the Hawks finished the job in the 4th quarter, scoring 13. With Johnson out, the Hawks needed Young to step up and they did.

40 BALL FOR TRAE YOUNG pic.twitter.com/29IIx728ce
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 15, 2025

Atlanta shot 44% from the field (14 more shooting possessions due to the offensive rebounding) and 42% from three. They outrebounded the Suns 54-37 and only had 12 turnovers. The Suns shot 51% from the field and 37% from three. After having huge performances in the last game, Atlanta kept Bradley Beal (11 points) and Grayson Allen (nine points) in check tonight.

There is no rest for the Hawks however. They will go on the road to face the Chicago Bulls, who lost to the New Orleans Pelicans tonight. That is a big game considering where both teams are in the standings and the Hawks are 1-2 vs Chicago this season.

The Hawks kept with the same starting lineup that they have used with Johnson out of the lineup. Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Vit Krejci, and Clint Capela were the first five on the floor for the Hawks. Phoenix starting lineup was the same as last Thursday, with Tyus Jones, Devin Booker, Ryan Dunn, Kevin Durant, and Mason Plumlee on the floor first.

With Johnson out again, it was going to be up to Young to lead the offense and he did just that to start the game. He scored 13 points in the first quarter and went 3-5 from beyond the arc. After a tough start shooting the ball, the Suns took advantage of the Hawks limitations at the forward position. Midway through the quarter, the Hawks were deploying a lineup that consisted of Young, Bogdanovic, Garrison Matthews, David Roddy, and Onyeka Okongwu. While that group has offensive firepower, the defensive limitations were apparent.

The Hawks ran out to an early lead, but Durant scored nine points and led the Suns offense back to take the lead 31-30 as the quarter was closing down, but a three from Bogdanovic as time expired gave the Hawks a 33-31 lead heading to the second quarter. Young finished the quarter with 13 points and shot 3-5 from deep. Atlanta shot 46% from the field and 55% from three. The Suns ended up shooting 60% from the field in the quarter and 50% from three.

The Hawks defense tightened up in the second quarter and they never trailed the Suns in the period. The Hawks bench was the big story in the second quarter. Matthews scored eight points in the quarter and was shooting 4-5 from three to give him 14 points in the half, the second leading scorer for the Hawks. Okongwu scored 10 and was consistently winning his matchup with Mason Plumlee. Atlanta held Phoenix to 2-9 from three and had a 64-56 lead at the half.

Young led all scorers with 20 points, Matthews had 14, and Okongwu had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Atlanta shot 46% from the field and 47% from three.

Booker led the Suns with 15 points and Durant had 13. Phoenix shot 48% from the field and 35% from three.

Last game vs Phoenix, the Hawks offense went cold and allowed the Suns to pull away in the second half. The third quarter started in the most disastrous it could for Atlanta. The Suns opened the quarter on an 18-6 run to grab the lead 74-70 and Risacher, who was the primary defender on Durant with Johnson and Hunter out, picked up his fourth foul early in the quarter, forcing Snyder to insert Roddy in the lineup. The Suns could not miss and it looked like the Hawks were going to be too far behind to catch up.

But then the shots started falling.

Young played the entire third quarter and scored 10 points, keeping the Hawks in the game. It was not just Young though. Okongwu racked up five points to go along with eight rebounds in the quarter and was dominating the Suns smaller lineup that did not have a center on the floor.

After the Suns led for most of the quarter, Krejci hit a three for the Hawks to take the lead and at the end of the quarter, Atlanta led 89-87. The opening minutes of the quarter were going to be vital with Young on the bench after having played the whole quarter.

The Hawks did not falter at all in the final quarter, despite Booker's best efforts. Atlanta never gave up the lead and when he came back into the game, he closed the Suns out. Atlanta defeated Phoenix 122-117.