Atlanta Hawks studs and duds after yet another blown lead

Atlanta Hawks stud after yet another blown lead: Trae Young is playing out of his mind right now

Trae Young finished with 41 points on better than 63 percent shooting and went 5-of-9 from three-point range. He also had nine assists, falling just one short of extending his 25-point, 10-assist streak at five games though he does now rank fourth in the NBA with 27.0 points per game.

20 of his 41 points came in the second half.

The feisty point guard also had seven turnovers, though only two of those came in the second half. He did his part in the fourth quarter especially, shooting 71.4 percent from the floor for 11 points.

Young is averaging 31 points and 10.3 assists over these last seven games, third in the league and less than one point behind Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant in that span.

And, say what you will, but he did some good on defense in this one as well, holding the trio of Gordon, Armoni Brooks, and Garrison Matthews to a combined 3-of-10 shooting. How much of that is actual defense as opposed to just missed shots is almost ancillary coming out of this game.

Over this seven-game span, Young has the same defensive rating as Collins for whatever that is worth. He also has the fifth-best defensive field goal percentage differential on the team this season; second behind Collins among the usual starters.

Young joined his coach after the game in saying the team needs to display a greater sense of urgency in games and, particularly, on the defensive end of the court.