Wednesday 13 November 2019 09:58, UK
Trae Young became the youngest player in NBA history to record at least 30 points and 10 assists in three straight games with a 42-point, 11-assist eruption in the Atlanta Hawks' win over Denver Nuggets.
Falling into a 12-0 hole less than three minutes into the game brought back unpleasant memories for the Atlanta Hawks. Young rewrote the ending with another huge performance.
The second-year point guard scored 15 of his season-high 42 points in the fourth quarter and added 11 assists to lead Atlanta over the Denver Nuggets 125-121 on Tuesday night.
Young finished seven points shy of his career-high set March 1 against Chicago last season. He was 13-of-21 from the field and finished 8-for-13 on three-pointers to flip the script on the Hawks' last visit to Denver.
The Nuggets scored the first 13 points on their way to a 45-point rout of Atlanta last November, but this time the Hawks pushed back.
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"We didn't want the same thing to happen again," Young said. "We wanted to get back rolling."
Will Barton led Denver with 21 points, Jokic had 20 and Paul Millsap added 19. The Nuggets had their three-game winning streak snapped.
The main reason was Young, who has bounced back from scoring nine points against Chicago last week to eclipse the 30-point mark in three straight games.
"It was just the Trae Young show for 48 minutes," Denver coach Michael Malone said.
Young, who had 17 points in the first half, shouldered the load on offense after Kevin Huerter left the game through injury. He put up 10 points in the third and then carried the Hawks in the fourth, scoring more than half of their 27 points.
"It felt better because we won," Young said. "I'm glad I was able to knock some shots down and help us win."
Denver rallied early in the fourth to tie it at 101 but Young hit a pair of three-pointers and a floater to put Atlanta ahead 114-106. The Nuggets couldn't get closer than four the rest of the way.
"He's got an ultra-green light," Denver guard Gary Harris said. "He's capable of pulling up right after halfcourt. It makes it tough to guard."
Young helped stave off a third-quarter rally by Denver when he drained a three-pointer in front of the Nuggets bench. He then turned and stared into the seats before running up the court.
"Some of it was the bench but some of it was to one of the dudes in the crowd," Young said. "I'm not about to get fined talking about it. Sometimes what the fans say is unacceptable. I can't say nothing to him, I can't do anything towards him, I can just get buckets and look at him.
"He stopped talking as much."
Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was happy with most of Young's performance but thought the guard could have done better in one specific area.
"I wasn't impressed with his free throws. He went 8-for-11; he has got to go 11-for-11," Pierce said. "He missed two the other night, he missed three tonight. It's always something. Everybody else can praise him. I've got to stay on him."
