Trae Young Dominates Colin Sexton, Atlanta Hawks Win

Trae Young matched up with a familiar foe when the Atlanta Hawks played visited the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. Young got the best of his college nemesis on the court, and the win column as the Hawks won 133-111.

It was an exciting night for the new era of Atlanta Hawks basket ball as there were many first for the Hawks on Sunday. The victory 22 point victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers marks the Atlanta Hawks first win of the 2018-19 season. The win snapped an early two game losing streak.

It was a game of first for the Atlanta Hawks. Congratulations are in order for new Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce, on his first win as a National Basketball Association Head Coach.

Rookie first round draft pick Trae Young put on a sensational performance, notching is first career double-double. Young also played on the floor with fellow rookies Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman for the first time, as the Hawks went on a huge run, outscoring the Cavaliers by 18 points.

Speaking of rookie Kevin Huerter, he recorded his first double-digit rebound game with ten. The Red Mamba barely missed his first career double-double, scoring nine points. He also added four assists, two steals, and zero turnovers in 23 minutes. Huerter made three of five three-point attempts.

Rookie Omari Spellman also had a first, with his first double-digit scoring NBA game. He poured in 17 points for the Atlanta Hawks. He shot an incredibly efficient 6-8 and made 4-5 from downtown. The future was certainly on display last night, as all three rookies played very well.

Trae Young was the star of the show however. He was phenomenal showing of an array of dribbling moves, precision passing and accurate shooting. Young had several firsts on the evening. He became the first NBA player to ever score 35 plus points, and dish ten plus assists in his first three games. Basketball Reference tweeted the stat:

For those things that Trae Young weren’t first on, he’s now in phenomenal company. Trae is only the second rookie to score 30 points and dish ten assist in his first three games. He joins Hall of Fame player Isaiah Thomas formerly of the Detroit Pistons.

Trae also became the youngest player since LeBron James to have a 35 point, 10 assist game. James accomplished the feat in the 2004-05 season. Trae also become the first player to put up such as stat line since Stephen Curry did so on March 13, 2010.

NBA Stats provided those numbers in the following tweet:

Speaking of terrific company, the Atlanta Hawks point guard entered rare air with his performance on Sunday. Trae Young joined Steph Curry, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, and Jason Kidd as only the fifth rookie in the last 25 years, to score 35 or more points with ten or more assists. ESPN provided that wonderful nugget in the tweet below:

Trae Young started the game slow, going 1-3 from the field, with just three points, one assists and one turnover in the first quarter. The Atlanta Hawks trailed by ten. The lone assist was a spectacular lob to Alex Poythress. The turnover amazingly would be Young’s only turnover for the game.

The second quarter saw Trae Young assert himself into the action. He caught fire and scored 18 points as well as dropped two nice assists to center Alex Len. Young nailed three baskets from beyond the arch in the period.

The Atlanta Hawks overcame a 15 point deficit in the quarter, to take a four point lead into the locker room at halftime, led by Trae’s barrage.

Trae Young dominated the third quarter as well. He took advantage of the fact Cleveland’s defense began to key on him, and began to get his teammates even more involved. Young handed out five assists in the quarter and scored nine points.

Between points and assists, Trae accounted for 68 percent of the Atlanta Hawks third quarter scoring. The Hawks lead the contest 92 to 86 at the end of the third quarter.

The Hawks blew the game open in the fourth quarter outscoring the Cavaliers 41 to 25. Young added 5 more points and two more assist in the quarter, to top off his historic night.

Most of the damage Trae did in this game was against Colin Sexton. This was a rematch from a game in college that featured the NCAA’s two best point guards. Sexton and his Alabama Crimson Tide won that battle against Trae Young and his Oklahoma Sooners.

The NBA matchup was a different story, as Young was able to blow by Sexton at will, often causing him to reach and foul. Colin Sexton finished with an unattractive stat line of four points, two rebounds, two assists, zero steals, two turnovers and four fouls. He shot just 2-11 from the field.

We spotlighted the showdown in our matchups to watch prior to the season.

Trae Young’s final historic stat line was 35 points, 11 assists, two rebounds, one steal, and one turnover. Trae shot a blistering 13-23 from the field and made 6-14 shots from the land beyond. He looked like a combination of both star guards he’s compared to, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry.

Trae Young and the rookies didn’t win the game by themselves though. They had a lot of help from their friends. Kent Bazemore had a nice bounce back game, and his best of the season, notching 23 points, five rebounds, and four assists. He shot a hot 7-13 and made 4-8 threes.

Alex Len chipped in his first double-double of the season scoring 16 rebounds and cleaning the glass with 11 rebounds. He was also a force protecting the rim, adding four blocked shots.

Small forward Taurean Prince snapped a streak of six consecutive 20 points games, but was a major contributor adding 14 points and six rebounds. He scored some key baskets during Hawks runs. Most importantly he cut his turnovers down to only two.

Reserve small forward DeAndre’ Bembry also had a nice bound back game and his best game of the season, scoring 13 points with three rebounds, and two steals. Bembry was 5-8 shooting and locked down 3-4 trays.

The 133 point outburst were the most that the Atlanta Hawks scored in a game since 2019. The team shot a smoking 49 percent from the field and 46.8 percent from three-point range. The Hawks also shared the ball well with 32 assists.

Forcing turnovers and rim protection were key to the victory as well. The Hawks had nine steals and seven blocks.

In a previous article I mentioned the Atlanta Hawks needed to limit their turnovers to below 15. They were successful in that endeavor turning it over 12 times to the Cavs 18. That lead to the Atlanta Hawks scoring more points off turnovers than their opponent (23 to 15) for the first time this year.

It was great win for the Atlanta Hawks, as we got to see the three rookies Young, Huerter, and Spellman on the floor with Taurean Prince for the first time.

High flying forward John Collins will soon return from injury, giving the team their full young nucleus together. The return of Collins will help the team defensively allowing  the veteran Vince Carter to play a reserve roll. Collins will also form a spectacular pick and roll duo with Trae Young.

As for Mr. Young, he has been everything the Atlanta Hawks organization and fans have hoped for and more, so far this season. There will certainly be ups and downs, but the talent is certainly there. He’s as gifted a passer that this league has seen in some years.

Prediction: Trae Young will lead the NBA in assists in the Near future and multiple times in his career.

General Manager Travis Schlenk must be commended for the rebuild so far. Early returns on sophomore John Collins, as well as the encouraging play of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, and Omari Spellman show that Schlenk certainly has an eye for talent.

Second year man Tyler Dorsey has potential to be a steal of a second round draft pick as well. It’s too early to say far certain, but in Travis Schlenk the Hawks may have their General Manager with the best draft acumen in many years, if not ever!

After the big win over Cleveland, the city is abuzz for the Hawks first home game in the new State Farm Arena. Especially with the fact that the man Trae Young was traded for, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks are coming to town for their only meeting this year.

This game is also the Atlanta Hawks only ESPN game this season, so it’s must see TV. Hopefully John Collins will return, and Atlanta will get their first two game winning streak of the Lloyd Pierce era. I encourage everyone to get to the arena if you can. If not, certainly watch on television or listen on radio.

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