NBA: Trae Young’s 41 points help Hawks torch Raptors
Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks shoots a basket against Precious Achiuwa #5 of the Toronto Raptors during the second half at State Farm Arena on February 26, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP
Trae Young had 25 of his 41 points in the first half and added 11 assists as the Atlanta Hawks defeated the visiting Toronto Raptors 127-100 Saturday night.
Onyeka Okongwu added 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Hawks, who have won 10 of their past 12 home games.
De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic each contributed 14 points for Atlanta.
Fred VanVleet had 20 of his 24 points in the first half and added nine assists for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row.
Precious Achiuwa scored a season-best 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Toronto. Pascal Siakam had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while Thaddeus Young scored 10 points off the bench.
Trae has 32 points on 14/17 shooting…There's 8 minutes left in the third quarter pic.twitter.com/rHGJgKJqwB
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 27, 2022
The Raptors won the first two games between the teams this season.
The Hawks led by as many as 32 points and took a 30-point advantage into the fourth quarter after outscoring the Raptors 38-16 in the third quarter and 72-37 in the middle periods combined.
Toronto opened the fourth quarter on a 12-3 run. Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the game to get the lead up to 24.
The Raptors, who led 37-32 after one quarter, opened the second quarter with an 8-1 surge. The Hawks answered with an 18-0 run capped by Young’s 20-foot jumper to lead by six points with four minutes remaining in the half.
Bogdanovic hit a 21-foot jumper with 2:15 remaining in the second quarter to put Atlanta ahead by nine points. Young completed the first-half scoring with a layup and a free throw to give Atlanta a 66-58 lead.
Atlanta scored the first seven points of the third quarter. Clint Capela made two straight dunks on passes from Young to bump the margin to 22 with 6:41 left in the quarter. After Huerter hit a 3-pointer, Capela made another dunk on a pass from Young to complete a 16-0 run that had the lead at 27 with 5:12 to go.
The lead reached 32 points before the third quarter ended with Atlanta leading 104-74.
OG Anunoby (finger) did not play for Toronto. John Collins (foot) did not pay for Atlanta.
