Trae Young realized he’d need to convey a substantial burden, and that was OK with him.
The rookie was pumped to face LeBron James.
Young had 22 points and 14 helps, John Collins additionally scored 22 points in spite of foul inconvenience, and the Atlanta Hawks defeated James and the Los Angeles Lakers 117-113 on Tuesday night.
The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak regardless of a triple-double from James, who had 28 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds.
“I try to live in big moments,” Young said. “I feel like I belong here. He’s one of the best players of all time. But when I’m out on the court, I’m trying to compete and get a win.”
Young matched his season high by playing 38 minutes, going up against a more noteworthy weight after the Hawks purchased out the contract of his veteran backup, Jeremy Lin. With Jaylen Adams sidelined by a sprained right ankle, Young was the only true point guard on the roster.
“It was definitely different,” Young said. Asked if he was tired, he said with a smile, “A little bit.”
In spite of serenades of “Kobe’s better” from the sellout horde of 16,824, James was cheered uproariously by a powerful unforeseen of Lakers fans. He turned in an dazzling effort, paralleling his season high by playing 43 minutes, however it wasn’t sufficient to compensate for the trashy gathering around him.
The Lakers dropped 2½ games behind Sacramento for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“We either make it or we don’t make it,” James said. “Don’t worry about it.”
But the frustration was apparent on his face when he stormed straight to the locker room as soon as the horn sounded.
“Some guys have never played a playoff game before,” James said. “You can’t teach them that. It’s very important to understand how important every game is, no matter who you’re playing or where you are.”
AD scores only three points against Magic
Anthony Davis wouldn’t like to play for New Orleans any longer. In a victory misfortune Tuesday night, he saw his teammates may have felt the same way.
“We sucked,” Davis said. “Nobody was interested in playing, is what it looked like.”
Davis scored just three points on 1-of-9 shooting and was thoroughly outplayed by Orlando center Nikola Vucevic as the Magic beat the listless Pelicans 118-88.
