New Orleans Pelicans Surprise Atlanta Hawks 117-112

Recap

Sunday evening's game at State Farm Arena got off to an ominous start when the Hawks turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter and were down 17 in a blink of an eye.

just great stuff 🤌 pic.twitter.com/ObXihZrcHj
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 20, 2022

Yet again, Trae Young faced stiff double-teams throughout the game, as has become the norm. After a slow start, Young finished with 21 points and 10 assists. Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic combined for an inefficient 48 points. Once again, Huerter struggled, going 0-5 and scoring 0 points in 18 minutes of play.

The Hawks bench played relatively well. Most notably, the backup point guards Delon Wright and Lou Williams. On the flipside, Onyeka Okongwu struggled, tallying just 3 points and 3 rebounds. The Hawks shot 47.1% from the field and 31.3% from deep.

Entering tonight's game, the Pelicans averaged 108 points per game. They easily exceeded that thanks to their all-around offensive attack. Six players scored in double-digits. Jonas Valinuciunas and CJ McCollum combined for 51 points. The Pelicans only shot 44.8% from the field and 33.3% from deep, but they outscored the Hawks 62-42 in the paint.

YESSSSIR JV! pic.twitter.com/QepOKGCTcC
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 21, 2022

Post-Game Interviews

Hawks head coach Nate McMillan noted that the Pelicans were able to gain momentum by capitalizing off turnovers. "We know we got to do a better job of taking care of the ball... But you got three quarters to get it back, and I thought we just didn't react to that."

McMillan continued, "I thought the second unit did give us a little bit of momentum when they came in. But we got to get dirty and make some plays early in the game."

"We know we've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball." pic.twitter.com/iFzyVzLwlh
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) March 21, 2022

Trae Young took ownership of the loss. "I did a bad job turning the ball over in the first quarter. They got off to a big lead, 35 to what 18? We didn't score; I didn't really give us a chance to score in that first quarter. We fought hard to get ourselves back in the game, but it was too much to overcome."

Young credited his opponents for making it difficult on him. "They've got a lot of good wing defenders. They got a lot of guys who have some size and length on the wings. They made some good reads. They were really playing in to help on the roller. And the guy who had to guard two did a good job of picking the right one. I made a couple of turnovers, picking the wrong one."

The Hawks next game is Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. There should be plenty of fireworks in that nationally-televised game. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's AllHawks.com for breaking news, highlights, and analysis.

Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela wears the Nike Kobe 5 Protro in the 'Bruce Lee' colorway.

Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young notched another double-double tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Atlanta Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter had another efficient offensive night.

New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard CJ McCollum went off against the Atlanta Hawks. McCollum is thriving for his new team.

Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela had a very efficient double-double tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Stats

Hawks Leaders

Danilo Gallinari - 27 PTS, 5 REB

Trae Young - 21 PTS, 10 AST

Bogdan Bogdanovic - 21 PTS, 4 REB

Pelicans Leaders

Jonas Valinuciunas - 26 PTS, 12 REB

CJ McCollum - 25 PTS, 8 AST

Willy Hernangomez - 17 PTS, 10 REB

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