Trae Young scored a season-high 43 points and the Atlanta Hawks finished strong to beat the visiting Phoenix Suns 122-117 on Tuesday.
Young made 13 of 31 field goals, giving him 3,556 baskets for his career and pushing him past Al Horford for 10th most in franchise history. He was 6-for-12 on 3-pointers and 11-of-14 on free throws to go along with five assists.
Atlanta also got 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds from Onyeka Okongwu and 19 points from fellow reserve Garrison Mathews, who made five 3-pointers.
Phoenix was led by Devin Booker’s 35 points and Kevin Durant’s 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Atlanta salvaged a split of the season series after losing 123-115 on Thursday. The Suns had their three-game win streak snapped and have lost 11 straight games in Atlanta.
Grayson Allen gave the Suns their first lead of the game with a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Hawks countered with a 3 from Bogdan Bogdanovic with 1.5 seconds remaining and led 33-31.
Atlanta pushed its advantage to as many as 12 points in the second quarter and led 64-56 at halftime.
Durant heated up with 14 points in the third quarter to help Phoenix surge ahead 84-75 until the Hawks rallied to carry an 89-87 edge into the fourth.
The Suns trailed by eight points but tied it at 101-101 on Booker’s basket with 6:40 left. Atlanta then engineered a 13-3 run and took a 10-point lead on Mathews’ fifth 3-pointer.
Young tallied 13 points in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.
The Suns lost Bradley Beal for substantial minutes due to a leg injury sustained with 5:53 left in the third quarter. Beal went to the locker room for treatment and returned for the fourth quarter. He finished with 11 points in 28 minutes off the bench.
The Hawks took another injury hit when De’Andre Hunter, the team’s No. 3 scorer (19.4 points per game) was scratched after injuring his left foot during pregame warmups.
Atlanta was already missing second-leading scorer Jalen Johnson (19.8 points), who missed his fourth straight game with shoulder soreness.
The Hawks begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday in Chicago. The Suns play the second leg of their five-game road trip on Thursday at Detroit.
–Field Level Media
