Behind a career-high 18 assists, Trae Young helped the Hawks earn a 127-117 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Thursday night at State Farm Arena.
On the way to victory, Young also scored 39 points. At the moment, Young is averaging 29.4 points per game, which ranks him third in the NBA. Young is also averaging 9.2 assists, which places him second in the league behind LeBron James.
“I think I managed the game pretty well tonight from start to finish,” Young said. “I’m getting better every day.”
In another breaking record night for the Hawks, Vince Carter played in his 1,523rd game, which passes Dirk Nowitzki for third all-time in NBA history.
Besides Young’s exceptional performance, seven other Hawks players finished the night with double digits.
John Collins scored 17 points, DeAndre Hunter had 15, Vince Carter and Damian Jones scored 14 and Kevin Huerter and Cam Reddish each scored 12 points.
An interesting tidbit from the night was how everyone in the Hawks coaching staff wore Kobe Bryant’s shoes as a tribute to the death of Bryant.
“It’s obviously an emotional time,” Pierce said. “We are trying to find ways to continue to honor and do what we can to keep the legacy of Kobe going.”
Meanwhile for the 76ers, Ben Simmons scored 31 points, Shake Milton had 27 points, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid each contributed with 21 points.
During the game, Young was asked whether Carter should be added to the All-Star Game as an honorary member and he said “I don’t see why not.”
Young was also asked about his thoughts on what it means to him to play at first ASG and the league will also honor to Bryant. Here’s what he said:
The Hawks will be back in action Monday night agaisnt the Boston Celtics at State Farm Arena.
