Trae Young sends message after setting Hawks franchise record

The Atlanta Hawks suffered a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers to end the regular season. 

It did not affect their postseason fate, which will kick off on April 17 with a road date against the Chicago Bulls. But their 157-115 loss to the Pacers did belie star point guard Trae Young etching his name atop one of the franchise’s all-time leaderboards.

With his 11th assist versus the Hornets, Young surpassed Doc Rivers for the all-time Hawks franchise record, finishing the day with 3,868 assists. 

“You can’t mention “Assist” without 11 !” Young posted on X on April 14.

https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1779632112833867921

Young, 25, is four years younger than Rivers was when he left the franchise, record in hand in 1991. Young finished with 12 points, 12 assists, and three rebounds in the loss, playing nearly 32 minutes and into the fourth quarter despite the circumstances.

The Hawks are locked into the No. 10 seed and their date with the Bulls. But Young, who missed 23 games recovering from finger surgery, was still working to get his conditioning back.

This was his first time surpassing the 30-minute mark in three games back.

The Hawks also got strong efforts from Dejounte Murray (32 points, three assists, and three rebounds), Mouhamed Gueye (19 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals), and Bogdan Bogdanovic (18 points, four rebounds, two steals, one assist).

What they couldn’t do, however, was come away with a victory in what was an otherwise inconsequential matchup.

Hawks limping into postseason after blowout loss to Pacers

The Hawks lost six straight games to end the regular season, allowing 124.8 points per game. That was the second-most points allowed in that span behind only the 15-67 Washington Wizards.

Atlanta will also be without Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu through the first round in a potential playoff series.

It’s surely not the way anyone wanted to head into the postseason.

“I think the important thing for us right now, I'd like to focus on Chicago,” Head Coach Quin Snyder said postgame. “Obviously, you're disappointed when you end the season on a note like this. But the season isn't over. I think both can be true.”

The Hawks went 1-2 versus the Bulls and 15-26 on the road this season. But they won the most recent matchup behind a barrage of threes.

Chicago enters the matchup having dropped three of their last five outings.

A Hawks win will likely require a similar barrage of triples from the Hawks. The Bulls rank 26th in three-point attempts and 20th in efficiency. Conversely, the Hawks rank seventh in attempts and 17th in efficiency.