Trae Young scores 36, Hawks beat Wembanyama and the Spurs 109-99

Trae Young scored 36 points and his Atlanta Hawks held on to beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-99 at State Farm Arena on Monday afternoon. Atlanta almost blew a thirty-five point lead during the second half.

“I think obviously we did a good job in the first half, the attention to detail and the focus we had was huge for us,” Young said. “In the second half, I just think we got too relaxed.”

Speaking of the thirty-five point lead, Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama failed to score a point in the first half. In the second half, he scored 26 points

“Our team has learned they need to throw the passes,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich of Wembanyama’s ability to score near the basket.

Jalen Johnson had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. His game has been rising as of late with stellar performances against the Sixers and Wizards. However, the talk after the game was the lackluster play in the second half of games which results in many blown leads.

“I really think is probably those first five minutes of the half,” Johnson explained. I know a lot of the times you know when we get good lead in the first half, we call a timeout because they go on a run. We got to just cut back on that allowing that to happen.”

Killer Mike performed during the MLK Day festivities at State Farm Arena. Each head coach explained the significance of playing in the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s hometown.

“To be able to play on this day is an incredible honor to be able to celebrate Dr. King,” said Hawks coach Quin Snyder, who said, “obviously the significance of this day in this city is something really good and really good to be part of.”

Popovich added MLK Day is “even more meaningful and appropriate because of the lack of leadership we seem to have in the world right now.”

The Hawks will face the Orlando Magic this Wednesday at 7:30pm.