A Monster Trae Young Performance Propelled The Hawks Past The Cavaliers And Into The Playoffs

The Atlanta Hawks have punched their ticket to the 2022 NBA Playoffs. After taking down the Charlotte Hornets in the 9/10 play-in game earlier this week, Atlanta headed up to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers, which found themselves licking their wounds after losing the 7/8 game against the Brooklyn Nets. While the Cavs led by as many as 14 points in front of their hometown fans, Trae Young put the Hawks on his back in the second half and led Atlanta to a 107-101 win for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers came out on a mission in the first quarter. With the crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse rocking and Jarrett Allen giving the team a boost due to his return from injury, Cleveland raced out to a 12-4 lead and responded to any attempt the Hawks made to close the gap. While their offense was stellar in the game’s first frame – 36 points on 54.2 percent shooting and six of the team’s nine attempts from three going down — it was their defense that seemed to flummox Atlanta the most.

During the game’s first 12 minutes, the Hawks only made one of their seven tries from three and turned the ball over seven times — four by way of Young — which the Cavaliers turned into 11 points.

While Cleveland extended its lead to as many as 14 points, the Hawks managed to make them a bit uncomfortable. This was thanks in part to the play of Bogdan Bogdanovic off the bench, who hit all five of his shots for 14 points in the first half and was instrumental in getting the Cavs’ lead down to three.

But despite the fact that this group is new to this stage and their opponents made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, Cleveland managed to weather that particular storm like a team of grizzled postseason veterans. By the time they went to the locker room for halftime, the team had a 61-51 lead thanks to 17 points by Lauri Markkanen and a 13-point, 5-assist, 3-rebounds half by Darius Garland.

To add insult to injury for Atlanta, the team learned in the locker room that Clint Capela would not be be able to play in the second half after hyperextending his right knee. And despite that, the Hawks spent the entirety of the third quarter slowly chipping away at Cleveland’s lead.

While he struggled for much of the first 24 minutes, Young came alive in the third, scoring 16 points in the frame with five assists. This included a pair of threes late the quarter to give Atlanta its first lead of the game.

Thanks to some shot making by Garland and Caris LeVert down the stretch, the Cavaliers were able to keep Young’s hot streak from burying them, and things were tied at 84 as the game entered the fourth. That torrid form for Young carried over to the final frame, as the All-NBA guard was in total control of things, particularly during the 11-0 run that let the Hawks open up a 95-86 lead.

Cleveland was able to keep things close, but Young’s monstrous second half generally kept them at bay. When they got the lead down to three, Young pulled up from the logo and hit a three that didn’t touch the net.

And yet the Cavaliers just kept coming. Every Young haymaker had a response, and with less than 30 seconds left, it looked like they were going to have a chance to tie things up while down by three. Markkanen forced a turnover, but decided to dribble into the corner and give himself a bad angle for a pass to Garland.

Kevin Huerter read the whole situation perfectly, and while Danilo Gallinari pestered Markkanen and forced a bad pass, Huerter jumped the lane, registered a steal, and got the ball to Young, who went to the charity stripe and pushed the lead to five.

Young finished the game with 38 points and nine assists, while four other players — led by Bogdanovic’s 19 — scored in double-digits. Markkanen led the way for Cleveland with 26 points and eight rebounds, while Garland had 21 points and nine assists, albeit on 9-for-27 shooting.

With the win, Atlanta earned a matchup with the 1-seed Miami Heat, against whom they are 1-3 this year. The series is slated to tip off on Sunday, April 17, at 1 p.m. ET.