(Field Level Media) Atlanta’s Trae Young returned from an ankle injury to score 28 of his 29 points in the second half and help the Hawks beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs 108-100 yesterday.
Young missed one game after severely spraining his ankle last week against Miami. He was cleared to play late Monday but restricted to 30 minutes. He scored only one point in the first half, but found his rhythm in the second half and helped the Hawks break a three-game losing streak.
Young was 5-for-10 on 3-pointers and had 13 assists in his return. He scored 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Young’s return was needed. The Hawks were playing without power forward John Collins, who was suspended for 25 games for violation of the NBA anti-drug policy. Collins was averaging 17 points and a team-leading 8.8 rebounds.
Collins was replaced in the starting lineup by veteran Jabari Parker. He scored 19 points, eight of those in the first quarter, and added eight rebounds. Rookies De’Andre Hunter added 16 points and eight rebounds and Cam Reddish scored 12 points and was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers.
San Antonio got 22 points from DeMar DeRozan, 17 points from Bryn Forbes and 16 from Patty Mills. Trey Lyles had a game-high 12 rebounds. The Spurs have lost three of their last four.
The game remained tight through the first half. San Antonio’s largest lead was six points, but there were three lead changes before the break and the Spurs led 45-44 at halftime. DeRozan and Mills both had 10 at the half.
Young heated up and scored 12 in the third quarter. But San Antonio used a 12-5 spurt and took a 72-63 lead at 3:39 on Gay’s turnaround jumper and took a 78-70 lead into the fourth quarter.
Atlanta scored three consecutive 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter — two by Young, one by Kevin Huerter — and took a 79-78 lead. The Hawks stretched the lead to 97-90, their biggest lead of the night, when Vince Carter hit a jumper with 4:15 remaining.
Atlanta completes a back-to-back on Wednesday against visiting Chicago. San Antonio returns home to play Oklahoma City on Thursday.
