Trae Young, Onyeka Okongwu lead Atlanta Hawks to 7th straight win

The Atlanta Hawks (24-25) 129-121 Sunday matinee victory over the Los Angeles Lakers was not for the faint of heart. Facing them without LeBron James but with Anthony Davis, we tried to warn of not taking this group lightly despite what should have been a talent advantage in the Hawks favor.

L.A.’s Malik Monk did all he could to make them pay for not being as sharp as possible. He had 29 points on seven made threes in their first meeting, a 134-118 Lakers win.

The former Charlotte Hornets guard went for 33 points with eight triples this time.

This time, though, the Hawks managed to battle back from a late deficit and take the heavily-contested matchup.

Still one game below .500, the Atlanta Hawks win over L.A. could mean they have officially turned the corner

Sure, the Hawks started playing better even before the wins started to come in bunches. They are the third highest-scoring offense and 16th stingiest defense – up from 25th – since ‘let’s go Heat’ chants broke out at State Farm Arena. It’s a stretch that includes their last two losses against the Miami Heat and New York Knicks.

The Hawks got 13 fourth-quarter points from Trae Young to turn a 10-point deficit at the start into the eight-point victory they ended with.

Young, who had 36 points and 12 assists, also had five turnovers in the first half but just one in the second. In a game that got a little chippy at times, Young did a better job of harnessing his emotions following what many felt was a game with lopsided officiating.

He also saw things differently from his head coach who said they were emotionally drunk early.

“When Tony Brothers mentions to me how many years he’s reffed in this league, I don’t give a damn. That just gets fired me up. I don’t think I’m emotionally drunk. I’m just competitive. It brings the best out of me and my teammates.” – Trae Young via Chris Kirschner/The Athletic

This year’s starting All-Star point guard shook off some intentional bumps from the Lakers.

He also went 8-of-11 at the free-throw line in this one, one of the few Hawks starters to hit them with regularity; the others went 6-of-14 at the stripe.

Young was not alone in his fourth-quarter heroics as Onyeka Okongwu continued with the strides he’s taken this season to score 12 points of his own in the final 12 minutes of play including several impressive-looking dunks like this lob from Young that he had to reach way back to finish.

After the game, Young was highly complimentary of the second-year big man who had just 4 points and one of his five rebounds entering the fourth quarter, saying, “he’s been playing super big-time for us.”

Okongwu made note of the amount of talent on this roster.

“We have what it takes to win games. No matter if we’re up or down, no matter how the game’s going, as long as we lock in. And if we continue to play how we’re playing, we can beat anybody.” – Onyeka Okonwu via Sarah K. Spencer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Hawks outscored the Lakers 62-50 in the paint and 18-13 in fastbreak points. They won the paint battle last time too, but by just two points. And they were outscored 24-10 in fastbreak points. Perhaps this is a sign they will follow a different trend in the aftermath of this one as well after they went on to lose their next four following the first meeting.

They have a game against the Toronto Raptors – who just beat the Heat in triple overtime on Saturday – on Monday and face the Phoenix Suns on Thursday to wrap up this encouraging homestand before facing the Raptors in Toronto the next day.

If they keep stacking wins like this, they will be right back in the thick of the Eastern Conference standings.