Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young reacts to Nuggets-Spurs scuffle

Things can get a bit out of hand in the heat of the moment during an NBA game, as Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young surely understands.

Those situations don’t always end up with one player’s throat in the hands of another.

That was the case during the San Antonio Spurs’ 128-120 win over the Denver Nuggets on March 10. Spurs big man Zach Collins found himself on the wrong end of that equation after being dunked on by Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr who appeared to say something to Collins on the ensuing inbound.

Collins took exception – either to the dunk or whatever Porter may have said – and tried to run up on his perceived offender. The results did not go so well in the moment which Young had a little fun with on social media.

https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1634420866564882433

The win snapped San Antonio’s losing streak at two games and marks a two-game skid for Denver.

Collins also got the last laugh individually in this game with a 10-point, nine-rebound, three-assists performance for the tanking Spurs to Porter’s seven-point, one-assist, one-board showing for a Nuggets team that has a comfortable lead atop the Western Conference.

Despite the loss, Porter’s teammate, Jamal Murray, felt it was Collins who overreacted.

Porter said that it was all about the dunk and that Collins was “lucky” he didn’t get punched. Collins, however, contends that Porter did in fact say something to him that he took offense to which led to the altercation.

“He made a good play,” Collins said, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “He got me at the rim. Then he started talking and I didn’t like it so I went after him.”

Both players were ejected.

Trae Young’s Atlanta Hawks settling in under Quin Snyder

After starting off the Quin Snyder-era 1-3, Young’s Hawks have won back-to-back games for just the fourth time since having their five-game winning streak snapped in late January. Snyder win in the locker room game preaching the importance of getting stops, something they arguably lucked into but got nonetheless down the stretch against the Washington Wizards.

“It’s the end of the year,” Young said, per Jameelah Johnson’s atlhawksfans channel on YouTube. “Teams are supposed to be hitting their strides and connecting and clicking. So, I think we’re just trying to do that on both ends and not just one end.”

Defense has long been an Achilles heel for the Hawks, even after the addition of Dejounte Murray this past offseason, in large part due to Young’s physical limitations.

He recently noted that he has made a more concerted effort on defense this season.

The win moved the Hawks to 2-1 against the Washington Wizards this season with all three tilts coming under Quin who is 3-3 as the Atlanta boss. Quin’s Hawks are 11th in net rating in that span, though it is more to the credit of their offense which ranks sixth while their defense ranks 21st over the last six games.

Over the last two games, the Hawks have the eighth-best defense.

The answer is likely somewhere in the middle but, if they can keep it up offensively, that could be enough for a surprising run in the postseason.