Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts after hitting a three-point basket against the Indiana Pacers during the first half at State Farm Arena on February 08, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP
Trae Young scored 41 points — his fifth game with 40-plus points this season — to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-116 win over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
Young was 13-for-22 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long distance. He also went 11-for-13 from the foul line and had nine assists. It marked the second straight 30-plus-point effort for Young, his 23rd time this season to reach that milestone.
CASH pic.twitter.com/ZhIzsPTDkt
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 16, 2022
Atlanta also got a season-high 25 points from Danilo Gallinari, who started at forward in place of John Collins, the team’s No. 2 scorer who missed his second straight game with a foot injury.
Cleveland was led by Darius Garland, who scored 30 points and added eight assists. Garland has 20-plus points in nine of his past 11 games and remained on pace to become the second player in league history to average 20 points, eight-plus assists, shoot 46-plus percent from the field and 90-plus percent from the line.
Evan Mobley added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Kevin Love came off the bench to score 21 for the Cavs, who have lost two in a row.
Atlanta, which ended a two-game skid, leads the season series 2-1. The teams split two earlier games in Cleveland and will meet for the final time on March 31.
Both teams were hot from the field in the first quarter, Cleveland shooting 56.5 percent — including eight 3-pointers — and Atlanta making 54.2 percent. The Cavs led 36-34, and Love scored 14 points, putting him over 14,000 for his career.
Atlanta, led by Young’s 11 second-quarter points, took a 66-61 lead into intermission. Garland had 18 points in the first half.
The Hawks led 94-90 after three quarters and were able to squash any Cleveland attempt to regain the lead in the final period. The Cavs got within 105-102 on a bucket by Love with 6:33 left, but Atlanta answered with an 8-2 run that included 3-pointers from Young and Hunter that established a nine-point lead. Cleveland never got closer than four thereafter.