Trae Young and John Collins combined for 54 points to help the Atlanta Hawks break a two-game losing streak with a 133-112 win over the short-handed Indiana Pacers on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Young had 34 points and 11 assists, his 26th double-double, and Collins put up 20 points, 13 in the first quarter, and his third straight game with at least 20. Neither played in the fourth quarter.
It was Young’s fourth straight game against Indiana with 30-plus points and 10-plus assists. Young was 6-for-9 on 3s after going 0-for-6 in Sunday’s loss at Dallas.
The Pacers, who were already missing Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner with injuries, had only eight available players after an earlier trade sent Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, Tristan Thompson and Buddy Hield.
Atlanta also got 14 points from Onyeka Okongwu and 13 points from Bogdan Bogdanovic, who surpassed the 4,000 career scoring mark. Atlanta had a season-high 36 assists and fell one point shy of matching its season high for points.
Indiana was led by rookie Chris Duarte with 25 points, Lance Stephenson with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Oshae Brissett with 15 points. It was the fourth straight loss for Indiana.
The Hawks took no mercy on the Pacers. They shot 71.4 percent from the field and were 7-for-9 on 3-point attempts in the first quarter while taking a 40-22 lead. The Hawks scored a season-high points for the first quarter.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter and Atlanta had a season-high for points in taking a 76-50 halftime lead. It was Atlanta’s largest halftime lead of the season.
Atlanta improved to 2-0 against Indiana. The two clubs have two more meetings, both in March.
Both teams return home for games on Friday. The Hawks host San Antonio and the Pacers host Cleveland.
–Field Level Media
