Trae Young has a stellar performance to lead Atlanta Hawks over the Los Angeles Lakers

Trae Young is making a great case to be selected for his 3rd All-Star appearance, as he led the Atlanta Hawks to a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers 138-122 at State Farm Arena.

The Hawks had 7 players score in double figures tonight, led by Trae Young who finished with 26 points, 2 rebounds, and 13 assists with 6 made three pointers. Young is having a great season as a facilitator, as he’s second in the NBA in assists per game at 10.8, which is only behind Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Dejounte Murray returned from a one game absence, and he recorded 24 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals on 58% shooting. Jalen Johnson had a 19-point, 11 rebound double-double while Clint Capela had a 13-point, 12 rebound double-double.

The Lakers were without superstar Anthony Davis, and this hurt them tonight as they were outrebounded 46-37 as a team. Austin Reaves led the way with 28 points and 6 assists on 53% shooting. LeBron James nearly finished with a triple-double, as he ended the night with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Rui Hachimura provided a spark off the bench as he scored 16 points on 64% shooting.

This victory improves the Hawks to 20-27, which places them 10th in the Eastern Conference and 0.5 games above the 11th seeded Brooklyn Nets. The Hawks are 5-5 over their last 10 games, but they are currently on a 2-game winning streak and will look to keep up this momentum on Friday night when they face off against the Phoenix Suns.

For the Lakers, this loss drops them to 24-25 on the year, which is 9th in the Western Conference. They currently have the same record as the 10th seeded Utah Jazz and are only 0.5 games above the 11th seeded Houston Rockets, so the Lakers need to figure something out because many believe that they should be playing better than this with the type of season that stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis are having. With the trade deadline one week away, it will be interesting to see what direction the Lakers front office decides to go. Los Angeles is on a 2-game losing streak and will look to bounce back Thursday night against the best team in the NBA, the Boston Celtics.