Trae Young was able to enjoy some home cooking and put on a show in front of his home crowd. He returned to the lineup to produce his 39th double-double of the season and help the Atlanta Hawks win their fourth game in a row, with a convincing 123-110 victory over the road-weary Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.
Young, who missed the Hawks’ previous game on Monday with a bruised left quadriceps, came back to score 35 points, going a perfect 21-for-21 at the foul line. He added 12 helpers to go along with it on a cold shooting night from the field. He was 7 of 20 from the field and missed all five of his long-distance shots. He also did his job on the glass, collecting seven rebounds. It was his 19th game of the season where he eclipsed the 30-point barrier.
Young became only the sixth player in NBA history to have 21 or more free throws without a miss.
The Hawks improved to 3-0 against the Hornets this season and solidified their hold on the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference.
It was not a one man show with Atlanta getting contributions from Caris LeVert scoring 15 points and 12 points from the ‘Minivan’ Georges Niang. Vit Krejci scored 11 and Terance Mann 10 on a strong night for Atlanta’s bench.
The Hornets Miles Bridges had a double-double with a team-high 31 points and 11 rebounds. LaMelo Ball had a good outing of his own, scoring 25 points and handing out nine assists. DaQuan Jeffries scored a career-high 20 points and Mark Williams had 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Hornets had their mini two-game winning streak end as their road record away from home at the Spectrum dropped to 6-25 on the season.
Both teams left a lot of meat on the bone in the first half, shooting less than 42 percent from the field and combining for 19 turnovers. Atlanta led by as many as seven and Charlotte led by as many as six, with the Hawks holding a 52-49 advantage at half time.
The Hawks separated themselves by scoring the first 11 points of the second half, with Dyson Daniels scoring on a bunny for a 63-49 lead.
The Hornets made it a two-possession game and got as close as four points with 9:58 left in the game on a giant killer by Nick Smith Jr., only to have the Hawks gather themselves and regain the momentum with Young converting a three-point play for a 10-point lead with 8:19 to go. The Hawks put the game on ice with back-to-back 3-pointers from LeVert and Niang that pushed the lead to 13, 108-95, with 4:53 left.
Atlanta’s reserve dominated Charlotte’s by a final count of 57-18.
The Hawks were without backup center Clint Capela (personal reasons).
Atlanta wraps up their six-game homestand on Friday with a game against James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Hornets travel to San Antonio to square off against Stephon Castle and the Spurs on Friday.
