Hawks erase 18-point deficit but drop eighth game in a row

1. Trae Young put up his 29th point/assist double-double of the season. He now leads the NBA in point/assist double-doubles after dropping 34 points and 17 assists.

The Hawks guard’s shot did not fall early and he trusted his teammates to carry the scoring load. Young had 10 assists by the end of the first half, helping the Hawks cut into an 18-point deficit from the first quarter.

“I’m gonna have to trust my teammates,” Young said. “This is a team sport. I tell everybody all the time, you want to be an individual in this sport, you go play tennis, golf, all those other sports. This ain’t it. So I’m gonna continue to trust my guys and get them the ball.”

Young commanded much of the Pacers' attention, freeing up Garrison Mathews for three shots from outside.

But Young exploded in the second half, scoring 26 points despite the Pacers trying to find ways to double him. When they did, Young quickly passed the ball out and moved without it. The ball would eventually find him again.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

2. But Young had plenty of help from Dyson Daniels, who took on a big chunk of the scoring when the Hawks star guard went to the bench. Daniels got downhill quickly and attacked the basket to pick up 15 points in the first half.

“I think they do a good job of playing pressure and being in the passing lane and stuff like that,“ Daniels said. ”The way to beat that is just by driving and they don’t have as much help on the back side.”

His aggressiveness paid off when the Pacers tried to slow him down in the paint. He drew the contact and got to the foul line.

That instinct to score did not affect his ability to be disruptive on the defensive end. He’s had at least one steal in a career-long 20 consecutive games, according to the Hawks. It’s the longest active steal streak in the NBA and the longest by for a franchise player since Paul Millsap’s 21-game streak during the 2013-14 season.

3. Hawks coach Quin Snyder has often said that it isn’t about who starts the game but rather who finishes. On Saturday night, rookie Zaccharie Risacher finished out the close game, gaining some valuable developmental minutes in the process.

Risacher followed up his strong performance in Cleveland with another hot evening in Indianapolis. He put up a perfect second half, where he went 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from deep. His three 3s helped to keep the Hawks within range of the Pacers in the fourth quarter.

But the rookie did a little bit of everything throughout the game but especially in the closing minutes.

“When you go back and watch the film, you see him impacting the game in a lot of ways, on the defensive end too, that sometimes are subtle, which is why you may not notice them,” Snyder said.

4. After starting Mouhamed Gueye at power forward, the Hawks switched things up. They went with two-way forward/center Dominick Barlow, as they navigate the absence of Jalen Johnson in the rotation.

In his first start in a Hawks uniform, Barlow did a little of everything, scoring 10 points and grabbed three rebounds in his first 13 minutes.

“Honestly, just excited about playing. I don’t really care. Like I start, come off the bench, long as I’m playing, getting a chance to compete

Barlow averaged just 5.8 minutes per game entering the evening’s matchup as he’s navigated the life of a player on a two-way contract. He’s had some strong minutes with the College Park Skyhawks, which has helped to prepare him to make the most of his opportunity on Saturday.

5. The Hawks had opportunities to win. They hustled, made some key stops and hit a couple of big shots down the stretch. But they left points off the board after missing nine of their 32 free-throw attempts.

Stat to know

85 - Trae Young has the fourth-most 30-plus point and 10-plus assist games after doing so for the 85th time in his career.

Quotable

“It’s hard, because you want to help the team. You feel like you can contribute. I’m just a competitor in myself.” - Dominick Barlow on navigating a two-way contract.

Up next

The Hawks wrap up the road trip on Monday night against the Pistons in Detroit.