Trae Young inspires Atlanta Hawks to win over Cleveland Cavaliers in NBA

CLEVELAND – Eastern Conference leaders the Cleveland Cavaliers are not that formidable after all.

On Nov 27, they suffered their first home defeat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season with a surprise 135-124 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Cleveland’s second loss of the season came after a strong second-half display from Atlanta, with De’Andre Hunter scoring 26 points off the bench, Jalen Johnson adding 22 points and Trae Young contributing 20 with an impressive career-high 22 assists.

Young put the game beyond the Cavs with a 39-foot three-pointer to make it 129-122 with 1min 23sec remaining, just moments after he had turned the ball over.

Johnson said Young’s assists had been crucial to the victory and that he deserved more credit for his role in the team.

“He was really getting off the ball and finding everyone... a lot of people don’t necessarily talk about him even though he’s leading the league in assists, they don’t talk about him as the playmaker,” he said.

The win moves the Hawks to 8-11 for the season and Young said the team had shown what they were capable of.

“They (Cleveland) are a really good team who have been playing well all year and I feel we have been a little inconsistent but the times that we have played well, we’ve played really well,” he said.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 for Cleveland and Evan Mobley put up 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs (17-2), who have the joint second-best season start at 15-0.

Elsewhere, Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a convincing 122-103 win at the Utah Jazz with 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Denver (10-7) had come back from an early 12-point deficit with a 21-4 run midway through the game, turning the contest in their direction.

The Houston Rockets needed overtime to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 122-115, with Alperen Sengun scoring 22 points and claiming 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Half of Turkish centre Sengun’s points came in overtime, where the Rockets made sure of moving to 14-6.

“My teammates trusted me in overtime and I didn’t want to fail them,” he said.

“It was ugly but a win is a win in the NBA.”

James Harden scored 43 points for the Los Angeles Clippers as they beat the struggling Washington Wizards 121-96.

He netted 23 of his points in the first quarter and left the game late in the third quarter, with the Wizards already condemned to their 13th straight defeat.

“We have to continue to find ways to win,” said Harden.

“Defensively we need to do a lot better, sometimes we get a little too comfortable...

“We just need to continue to get better as a unit.”

The Miami Heat defeated the Charlotte Hornets 98-94, with Tyler Herro scoring 27 points and Duncan Robinson draining six three-pointers in the win.

Bam Adebayo claimed 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Heat (8-8), while LaMelo Ball had 32 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte. Miami star Jimmy Butler left the game in the third quarter with a tight back and did not return.

Led by Anthony Davis with 19 points and 14 rebounds, the Los Angeles Lakers ended the San Antonio Spurs’ four-game winning streak with a 119-101 victory.

LeBron James helped with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, while France’s Victor Wembanyama top scored for the Spurs (10-9) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite being without injured Slovenian star Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks had a comfortable 129-114 win over the New York Knicks, with Kyrie Irving scoring 23 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and had nine rebounds and five assists for the Oklahoma City Thunder in an impressive 105-101 win at the Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder (14-4) lost forward Jalen Williams to an eye injury in the second quarter of the game, while Stephen Curry was missing for the Warriors (12-6) due to a knee injury. AFP