Hawks' win over Hornets a rare feat in multiple ways during Trae Young era

The Atlanta Hawks had not beaten the Hornets in Charlotte since the 2022-23 season. 

That changed on Saturday, with the Hawks logging a 107-104 victory on the second night of a back-to-back for both squads. It was a rare win for the Hawks in another way; a way that ties into three-time All-Star Trae Young, who had 14 points in the contest.

For the sixth time this season, Young scored 15 or fewer points in a game. The Hawks were 1-4 coming in those situations coming into the game versus Charlotte.

And the trend extends beyond this year.

They are 15-55 in those games during his career and had not won one of them since March of the 2022-23 campaign. Before that, it was March of 2021-22 and that was the only time in that season too.

This win over the Hornets was even rarer than that, though. Young recorded 5 assists in the game, extending his long-running streak.

The Hawks were 3-15 in those games before Saturday.

His previous win was that March 2023 game. Before that, it was the 2020-21 season, further highlighting just how rare it has been for the Hawks to get wins without Young pouring in points and/or high assists totals.

Trae Young taking back seat since return from Achilles injury

The Hawks were fined $100,000 for violating the player participation policy when they sat Young against the Boston Celtics on November 12, an NBA Cup game.

Young was not listed on the injury reports the Hawks released for the games before or after that one. However, “Locked On Hawks” host Brad Rowland reported that Young was still dealing with the injury as of November 26 and that it was not so much that Young was not injured.

The question was how severe the injury was.

Young has notably appeared on each of the Hawks’ last three injury reports for their two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of which was an NBA Cup game, and their victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

There has also been a significant downturn in Young’s usage rate since his return. 

He has gone from a 29.6% rate in the 11 games before his absence to 23.4% over the Hawks’ last nine outings.

Young scored less than 23 points just three times during that earlier stretch. But he has scored more than 21 points twice in the last nine. The Hawks were 4-7 before Young’s injury and have gone 5-4 since his return.

Time will tell if this recent trend continues. Winning three straight games certainly helps.

Young also still leads the league with a career-high 12.4 assists, though his streak of double-digit assist games was snapped at six with his performance versus the Hornets.