Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks used the longball to snap Suns streak

It feels good to have the Atlanta Hawks (25-26) on the other side, snapping an opponent’s winning streak again. For the longest time that seemed like a farfetched idea. But, with their 124-115 win over the red-hot Phoenix Suns, the Hawks have left little doubt that they are still the team we thought they were coming into the season.

After all, Phoenix came in riding an 11-game winning streak and boasts the best record in the NBA at 41-10 now.

Trae Young was magnificent on national television, going off for 43 points on 64.0 percent shooting and hitting 6-of-11 triples. He entered the game dealing with a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the loss to the Raptors on Monday.

In his last two outings, Young has hit 10-of-21 threes.

The Atlanta Hawks used a big night from beyond the arc to take down the Suns

Young scored 27 of his points in the second half with 18 coming in a 36-30 third quarter for Atlanta. They scored 30-plus in each of the first three frames and played Phoenix to a draw in the fourth. They also held the Suns – who are fourth in the league from deep this season – to just 9-of-32 (28.1%) from distance in this one.

The superstar point guard was certainly not alone in his exploits, the Hawks had six players finish in double figures with John Collins and Kevin Huerter putting up 19 points apiece.

Collins also hauled in 10 rebounds before leaving with shoulder pain he said he first felt on Monday versus the Toronto Raptors. He did manage to get in on the three-point barrage, knocking down 3-of-5 after being 1-of-16 over his last seven games.

Huerter did most of his damage in the third quarter going 4-of-5 from downtown. He was just 1-of-4 from three in the second half but did have seven points in the fourth quarter. The fourth-year wing also drew praise from his head coach for stepping up defensively on Suns superstar, Devin Booker.

Atlanta needed that from Huerter because De’Andre Hunter got into foul trouble and the Suns nearly came back via free throws, going 11-of-18 at the charity stripe.

Booker was just 1-of-8 from three for the contest and Phoenix could not overcome the Hawks perimeter prowess, though, as they shot better than 15 percent above Sun’s opponents on average. That allowed them to overcome being minus-five in the turnover battle and minus-18 in the paint.

The Hawks lead the NBA in three-point shooting percentage since their recent winning streak began. They have a quick turnaround with a quick turnaround to Toronto for a rematch with the Raptors.

They have gone 4-1 and moved up two spots in the East on this homestand.

We’d expect Young, who didn’t appear to come out of this one any worse for the wear, to suit up this time around which would definitely have a major impact on the final outcome after the Hawks lost by just six points last time. Collins is a different story.