Atlanta Hawks Pick Up Big Win Against Sacramento Kings

Recap

About an hour before tip-off, the Atlanta Hawks confirmed Trae Young would miss the game against the Sacramento Kings due to lower back soreness. If you missed it, Young got hammered on a foul by Jusuf Nurkic in Portland on Monday night, and it still feeling it.

Luckily, the Hawks were able to pull out the victory in Sac-Town 108-102. Kevin Huerter actually came off the bench in this game and led the team with an efficient 25 points. Cam Reddish assumed the role of starter and was the team's second-leading scorer with 18 points.

TUFFFF 😤 pic.twitter.com/oxZuX3OFYg
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 6, 2022

It's no surprise that Clint Capela tallied another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Capela totally shut down Damian Jones (former Hawk), Marvin Bagley III, and everyone's celebrity Tristan Thompson.

However, without Young on the court, the Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox was able to eat. Fox scored 30 points and dropped 6 assists. The Kings' third-quarter push wasn't enough to get the win, as the Hawks eeked out the much-needed victory.

Post-Game Interviews

After the game, active head coach Joe Prunty shed some light on his decision not to start Huerter. His reasoning was that he wanted to balance the first and second units. Check out his post-game remarks below.

"𝗞𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲." pic.twitter.com/XYoLTlOZHa
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) January 6, 2022

Speaking of 'Red Velvet,' listen to what the sensational shooting guard had to say after one of his best games this season. Below is a clip of Huerter speaking with Bally Sports' Lauren Jbara.

"On the defensive end, we were better tonight, really for the course of the entire game."@laurenjbara | @KevinHuerter pic.twitter.com/7LyMebN2KY
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) January 6, 2022

The Hawks now travel down the coast to Tinsel Town. The Lakers host the Hawks in a nationally-televised game on Friday night. As always, stay locked into Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.

Stats

Hawks Leaders

Kevin Huerter - 25 PTS, 11 REB

Cam Reddish - 18 PTS, 3 AST

Danilo Gallinari - 16 PTS, 3 REB

Kings Leaders

De'Aaron Fox - 30 PTS, 6 AST

Tyrese Halliburton - 24 PTS, 5 REB

Buddy Hield - 11 PTS, 6 REB

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