Atlanta Hawks: 1 stud and 1 dud from easy win over Pistons

Atlanta Hawks stud from big win over the Pistons: Trae Young is getting it going

After starting things off with a 19-point, 14-assist double-double in the season-opening thumping of the Dallas Mavericks, Trae Young has now fallen just short twice, recording nine dimes in back-to-back games. He also had a pair of costly turnovers in that loss to the Cavaliers over the weekend.

Neither the double-double miss nor an identical number of giveaways would be an issue on Monday night.

In a game where Atlanta held Detroit to 44.0 percent shooting and 27.3 percent from downtown — while shooting 51.1 percent overall and 37.5 percent from deep themselves — Young would end the first quarter with just four points on 1-of-4 shooting.

He had missed his only free throw and had three boards and a pair of assists. But also a pair of turnovers.

The MVP-hopeful turned it on in the second quarter with 18 points, accounting for more than half of the Hawks total for the quarter and the final margin of victory, while going 7-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

He did this as the rest of the team was just 7-of-15 overall and 1-for-6 on threes. Young also had three assists and a steal in the frame.

It is a solid start to the season for the fourth-year pro fresh off of signing an extension worth up to $207 million over the next five years. He is also averaging career-highs in steals (1.3), defensive box plus-minus (0.6), and defensive rating (105.2).

Best of all, Young is averaging a career-low 3.0 turnovers per game. This is exactly the kind of growth from him that will help take them to the next level.