NBA: Trae Young leads high-scoring Hawks past 76ers
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Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks goes up for a shot as Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers defends during the second half at State Farm Arena on Nov 10, 2022.
AFP
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LOS ANGELES – The Atlanta Hawks are flying high in the National Basketball Association (NBA) this season and Trae Young has been the team’s motivator on court.
On Thursday, the point guard scored 15 of his 26 points in the first quarter and the Hawks came away with a 104-95 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.
Young made only seven of 21 field goals and was just two for eight on three-pointers, but was perfect on 10 free-throw attempts and had seven assists.
Atlanta have won four of their last five and went 3-1 on their homestand. They are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference on 8-4. The Sixers (5-7) have lost three of their last four games. The two clubs play again on Saturday in Philadelphia.
The Hawks have scored 100-plus points in each of their first 12 games and have hit the century mark in 33 straight regular-season contests. But Young still demands perfection from his team.
“We had a big lead and we got too relaxed and let them back in the game,” he said.
“We’ve just got to be better at not relaxing at all and not looking at that scoreboard. We’ve just got to finish the game.”
Atlanta centre Clint Capela added 18 points and a season-high 20 rebounds. It was his fifth straight double-digit rebound game and the third time in four games that he grabbed 19-plus rebounds. De’Andre Hunter scored 14 points.
Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey added 15 points and Tobias Harris scored 12 pints. The Sixers shot 20 per cent (six of 30) on three-pointers, however.
The Hawks scored the final 11 points of the first quarter to take a 29-20 lead into the second. But the Sixers rode the 17 first-half points from Embiid and cut Atlanta’s lead to 46-42 at the half.
The Sixers tied the game 55-55 at 5min 50sec of the third quarter, but the Hawks outscored them 25-11 the rest of the frame and led 80-66 at the break – their biggest advantage of the game to that point. The Sixers played much of the quarter without Embiid, who picked up his fourth personal foul at 7:07.
Philadelphia cut the lead to 82-74 on an Embiid jumper with 10:32 remaining in the game, only to have Atlanta go on a 12-0 run punctuated by Onyeka Okongwu’s slam and take a 20-point lead at 7:57.
Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers removed his starters with 4:31 left and his team behind by 17. The Sixers’ subs cut the lead to six and Rivers re-inserted Embiid with the team down by eight with 1:28 remaining. But he was limited to one made free throw over the remainder of the game.
“The lack of point guard play I thought was really clear tonight,” said Rivers. “We’re going to have to make an adjustment there.”
Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler posted 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead hosts Miami Heat to a 117-112 overtime home win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Butler also made 13 of 15 free throws, including going one for one in an overtime period that saw the Heat go nine for nine from the line. Bam Adebayo weighed in with 18 points.
The Hornets (3-10), who have lost seven straight games, were led by Kelly Oubre’s season-high 29 points on 11-for-20 shooting, including seven for 13 on three-pointers. Terry Rozier had 22 points. REUTERS
