In the Hawks’ 132-126 loss to the Rockets on Monday night, point guard Trae Young’s big night went to waste. Young finished with 41 points (one point from tying his season high), nine assists, four rebounds and seven turnovers (tying a season high).
After entering the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead, the Hawks were outscored 44-25, as defensive breakdowns played a part in the Rockets’ comeback.
While Young was aggressive and put up great numbers, he was not satisfied with his and his team’s play in the fourth quarter.
“It’s not an individual sport; not one person can do it,” Young said. “We let them score too easy on a lot of occasions. We (must) be better on the defensive end. We have to be better on both ends.”
On defense is where Young and the Hawks struggled down the stretch. One example is that the Hawks were outrebounded by the Rockers 45-40. One rebound that Young wishes he had back resulted in the Rockets getting another possession and scoring.
“There’s a couple of plays in the fourth quarter,” Young said when asked about plays he wished he had back. “I let D.J. (Augustine) get a back-door cut. There was one offensive rebound I let (David) Nwaba get. Those are two plays I wish I could get back.”
The offensive rebound that Nwaba beat Young to resulted in him tipping the ball in cut the Hawks lead to six with 5:57 to go in the fourth quarter. The score was 114-108, and this started a Rockets run that gave them the lead in the fourth quarter.
When Augustine beat Young with a back-door cut, that score cut the Hawks’ lead to one point, at 119-118 with 3:49 to go in the fourth quarter.
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