For the second straight night, the fans at State Farm Arena in Atlanta were treated to a wild-nail-biting-scoring match-up between the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. In an encore performance, following the 157-152 loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Hawks were able to top the Nets in overtime, 147-145.
Trae Young sent this game to overtime after being fouled by Nets guard, Spencer Dinwiddie, on a drive to the basket. Technically, Young could have won the game in regulation but split the pair to tie it at 131. Mikal Bridges for Brooklyn missed a 20-foot pullup jumper at the end of regulation. Young went on to finish with 14 points in the overtime period, the most by any player in extra time across the league this season.
In overtime, Onyeka Okongwu blocked a Bridges’ lay-up attempt, with 7.0 seconds remaining, to essentially seal the victory for Atlanta, and a desperation attempt from Lonnie Walker IV ended in an airball.
Young scored a season-high 43 points, coming off the heels of a 38-point performance against the Pacers. From the field, it was not his greatest display, going 12-31 overall, but from beyond the arc, Young was an ultra-efficient 8-16. He also finished with 9 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, and a bit of a fun fact: Trae Young now has a steal in EVERY game this season.
‘Ice Trae’ has now scored a combined 81 points in his last two games and shooting an unreal 50% from three-point range (13-26). A welcomed sight for all Hawks fans.
De’Andre Hunter, who had a game to forget against the Pacers, rallied back for a strong performance the night before Thanksgiving. Hunter finished with a 25-point & 11-rebound, double-double, shooting 8-16 from the field. He was a force defensively, and finished with 2 blocks and a steal.
On the Brooklyn-side, they had four starters who scored 20+ points, led by Bridges who finished with a career-high, 45 points, while also securing 10 rebounds for a double-double. Former-Georgia Bulldog, Nic Claxton, was all over the court, on his way to 22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks. Dinwiddie finished with 26 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds, and Cameron Johnson added a nice stat-line of 23 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
The Hawk’s boast one of the top bench-scoring units in the NBA and that did play a huge factor in this one, outscoring Brooklyn’s bench, 36-21. Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with a game-high, +17 +/-, with 14 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
The entire league will get the Thanksgiving-holiday off on Thursday and resume games Friday. Atlanta (7-7) will play eight of their next 10 games on the road, and they kick-start a five-game road trip starting in Washington against the Wizards. The Hawks have already beaten the Wizards once this season and will look to do the same at a 7:00 p.m. tip-off Saturday night.
