With a few clutch plays from Trae Young late, the Hawks averted a fourth-quarter collapse and pulled away to beat the Warriors, 121-110, Friday at State Farm Arena.
The Hawks got back up to .500 at 37-37, though they haven’t been above that mark since Dec. 9.
Next up, the Hawks will play in Indiana Monday.
Below are some takeaways from the win:
1. Although the Hawks entered the fourth up 18, because of how they’ve struggled to maintain leads in the final quarter, the lead didn’t feel safe. The Warriors went on a 15-2 run to cut the lead to 103-98 with 7:56 to play, then got it down to a three-point game with less than four minutes left after a layup by Gary Payton II (14 points, six rebounds, two steals) – then Young went to work. Down the stretch, Young assisted on two baskets, went 4-for-4 from the line and hit a dagger 3-pointer to put the Hawks up 11 with 53.7 seconds left. Ultimately, the Hawks lost the fourth quarter 27-20, but Young steered them to a win in the final minutes.
“That’s the growth that he has to show, is managing the game, making the decision with the ball late in games,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “He knows he’s going to be handling the ball and initiating the offense. You get a pulse on what the team is doing against you for three quarters and that fourth quarter, that’s what we need to see from him, his ability to manage the game, adapt to conditions in that fourth quarter and that’s what he did tonight.”
Young sat for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter but came back out at the 9:06 mark, with the Hawks still up 10.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
2. Young started heating up in the second half and finished with a team-high 33 points, tying a season-high with 15 assists, plus four rebounds and two steals to finish as a plus-16. He fought through physical defense, traps and box-and-1 coverage. He also recorded his 700th 3-pointer in this game, becoming the youngest in NBA history to arrive at that mark (23 years and 187 days), plus the fourth-fastest in games played (272).
“That was my main focus, is just each possession make sure we got a stop and a good shot on the other end,” Young said of the game’s closing minutes.
3. Without Steph Curry (left foot sprain) and James Wiseman (right knee injury management), Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 37 points, with Jordan Poole adding 24 points and 10 assists. The Hawks were missing Bogdan Bogdanovic (right knee soreness) and John Collins (right ring finger sprain/right foot strain). Not having Collins obviously takes away another rebounder and scorer for Atlanta, and missing Bogdanovic left the bench unit, often a strength, short-handed, with the bench only producing 13 points.
4. In the third quarter, the Hawks held the Warriors to 16 points, and Atlanta held Golden State to 43 points in the second half compared to 67 points in the first half, even factoring in the comeback.
“They were red-hot,” McMillan said of the Warriors’ 42-point first quarter. “They were making some shots that, I think a couple of those shots we were right there and we couldn’t do much more than contest without fouling. We just felt that if we continue that type of pressure, that they couldn’t continue to shoot the ball as well as they did in that first half and we were able to establish that in the third quarter.”
5. In the fourth quarter, the Hawks announced that Danilo Gallinari had been ruled out with a right elbow contusion, with McMillan mentioning postgame Gallinari had gotten “tangled up” during the game. Gallinari finished with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes, getting hefty playing time with Collins out. There wasn’t a firm update on Gallinari after the game, but he did mention this elbow has been banged up before: “I got hit again; it’s the same elbow that I injured some games ago. So it’s not good now. ... We’ll see how it feels tomorrow.”
Stat of the game: 32-16 (the Hawks doubled up the Warriors in the third quarter, putting them in control of the game)
Star of the game: Young (guided the Hawks to victory in the fourth quarter, tallying a team-high 33 points and tying a season-high in assists with 15)
Quotable: “There’s still time for us to get that rhythm, get that mojo back and a game like this, coming out with that focus and playing with that attitude that’s necessary, we certainly can get that going.” (McMillan)
