The birds and the bees meet once again, with Atlanta continuing their push for the playoffs and Charlotte continuing to, um, finishing their season. Trae Young made his return after a one-game absence, and Caris LeVert would later do the same off the bench.
The Hawks were active on defense and managed to come up with a number of timely deflections early. Dyson Daniels does just this with a chase down block, and he even rewarded himself with two points for that effort:
However, Charlotte soon found it too easy to get inside and score, and with that the Hawks faced an early deficit.
Caris LeVert brought some needed scoring energy off the bench, like on this four-point play:
The Hawks and Hornets went back and forth for the remainder of the first quarter. At the first break, Atlanta led 30-29.
In the second quarter, the Hawks had a nice scoring stretch aided by transition opportunities. They largely stifled the Hornets on defense but had trouble turning that into a significant edge on the scoreboard.
That is, until Zaccharie Risacher decided to do something about it:
It was a scrappy, ragged game at times, but Atlanta largely kept their noses ahead of their opponent over the rest of the half.
Heading into the locker rooms, the Hawks were up 52-49.
The good guys came out in the second half with a determination that was unmatched by their opponent. An 11-0 run put the home side firmly in control of the contest.
Mouhamed Gueye continued to flash a shooting touch from deep:
Then Trae Young did Trae Young things:
With a double-digit lead in hand, the Hawks looked to see off this game. Young, in particular, got going as a scorer in the third quarter. He poured in 17 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field to give the Hawks a big lift.
The Hornets didn’t go away quietly, however. It was up to the Hawks to put them away with authority. Charlotte hung in the game behind their 13-for-28 (46%) shooting from three through three quarters, and so focus was urgently required in the final frame.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Hawks led 89 to 78.
The Hornets made an immediate run in the fourth period, narrowing the deficit to four points after a 7-0 run. But Atlanta pushed back with a couple of Vit Krejci scoring possessions.
Following that was a three-point play with some sauce from Young:
Atlanta maintained a solid distances from Charlotte but couldn’t quite put them away by the halfway point in the last quarter.
The Hawks executed down the stretch to remove all drama from this one, so all the fans in State Farm Arena were able to exhale. This Trae Young dime just about sealed the deal:
https://x.com/ATLHawks/status/1900002934554870236
The Hawks calmly secured their fourth win in a row. Trae Young led the way with 35 points and 12 assists, including a perfect 21-for-21 from the free throw line — the most free throws made by a player in a game all season long.
Friday is the Bogdan Bogdanovic welcome home as the Los Angeles Clippers come to town.