Trae Young leaves game as sluggish Hawks fall to Cavs

They managed to cut the lead to 16 with 7:02 to play but they struggled to string enough stops together. The Cavs pulled away again, thanks to a pair of jumpers from Donovan Mitchell, who scored 18 points, and a pair of timely 3s from Dean Wade, who scored 17 points.

The Cavaliers entered Saturday’s game fully rested after last playing on Wednesday at home.

“We didn’t have competitive fire at the beginning of the game and when we don’t have that it’s hard to generate it,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We tried in those stretches where you could feel energy pick up, but they didn’t feel us early.”

2. Snyder did not want to attribute Saturday’s outing to tired legs, though. But the Hawks opened the night 2-of-8 from the floor and they just couldn’t get their shots to fall. The Hawks ended up making just seven more shots by the end of the first quarter.

The Hawks scored a season-low 45 points in the first half.

The Cavaliers have the third-most-efficient defense in the NBA and big man Jarrett Allen helped to seal off the paint. When the Hawks looked to generate shots in the pick-and-roll, they had to contend with Allen’s ability to make the right defensive reads.

But Snyder also pointed to the Hawks’ lack of connectivity on Saturday, with just four players ending the night with double-digit scoring.

“The key for us is the connectivity that we have on the offensive end and over the course of the game when you have that you get better opportunities,” he said.

3. After missing Friday’s game against the Heat with an illness, Hawks guard Trae Young returned to the rotation. He shot 50% from the floor in 28 minutes but exited the game after drawing a charge off of Cavs wing Isaac Okoro.

With 8:43 to play in the game, Young got into position outside the restricted area. Okoro drove in from the wing and as he moved to avoid Young, he elbowed the Hawks guard across the face and sent him flying out of bounds. Young remained down for several seconds before teammates helped him up. But then he squatted back to the ground.

As officials reviewed the call, Young immediately went to the locker room.

Following the game, Snyder said that the Hawks’ medical team would evaluate Young for a head injury. The team would then provide an update when available.

4. The Hawks have had to lean on Saddiq Bey in the extended absence of De’Andre Hunter. But the expanded role has not led to the forward putting up his best work. In the 29 games since Bey first stepped into a starting role following the injury of Jalen Johnson, he has shot 30.6% from 3 on roughly 6.2 attempts per game.

But on Saturday, Bey had one of his toughest games yet. He went 0-of-12 from the floor, with six of the attempts coming on 3-point tries. A couple of those 3-point attempts rolled down and then popped back out.

It’s the first time since his rookie year that he has ended a regular-season game with zero points.

Bey’s teammates have confidence that he will eventually break out of his slump and Snyder wants him to keep shooting.

“Just got to tell him to keep shooting,” Johnson said. “We need him shooting his shots. Those shots are gonna end up falling. Everybody goes through slumps.”

5. The Hawks could not slow down Cavaliers wing Sam Merrill, who led their reserves with 18 points. He sank 5-of-14 shots from deep.

He sparked a big run for the Cavs in the second quarter with a pair of 3s that got the Cavs out to an 18-point lead after the Hawks tried to keep the game within 10.

Stat to know

51 -- Bogdan Bogdanovic tied Kyle Korver (51 games) for the franchise’s second-longest streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer.

Quotable

“Just not coming out prepared ready, hitting them first.” Jalen Johnson on the Hawks’ slow start.

Up next

The Hawks head on the road to face the Kings on Monday.