RECAP: Trae Young scores 34 Points as Hawks Dominate Raptors For Their Fourth Straight Win

Young led the Hawks to yet another win and now the Hawks are 18-15 heading into Wednesday's Matchup With the Nuggets

Dec 29, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) dribbles the ball past Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji (30) in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images / Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

The Hawks had their final game of the 2024 calendar year and they went into 2025 with perhaps their most dominant win of the season. Atlanta, who was playing on the second night of a back-to-back and missing key parts of their rotation, went on the road to face Raptors, who had two days of rest and got Bruce Brown in their rotation for the first time all year, and the Hawks ended up getting a 136-107 win.

It was a wire-to-wire win for the Hawks. They led by 10 after the first quarter, then the Raptors closed the gap to six at the end of the first half, but the Hawks dominated in every way in the second half, especially the third quarter, and pulled away from Toronto, who has now lost 10 straight games.

Trae Young has had very good performances against Toronto in the past and he added to that tonight. Young finished with 34 points on 10-21 shooting from the field and 7-15 from three, as well as dishing out 10 assists. Atlanta had seven players in double figures tonight, incluidng another fantastic game from De'Andre Hunter (22 points). The Hawks overall shot 48% from the field and 40% from three.

Up next for the Hawks is two days of rest and then a trip to Denver to face Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Wednesday. In their first matchup of the year, the Nuggets had a dominant win and Jokic scored 48 points. Will the Hawks have better luck this time around? They are playing well right now and might have Bogdan Bogdanovic and Dyson Daniels back, both of whom missed this game.

The Hawks kept their same starting lineup as yesterday, with Trae Young, Vit Krejci, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela being the first five on the floor for the Hawks.

Toronto started Scottie Barnes, Grady Dick, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, and Jakob Poeltl.

The Hawks started this game being very disruptive on defense, but the only thing was that they did not get all of those turnovers converted into points. Atlanta forced six turnovers on the first seven possessions, but did not cash in. They led by only three at the first timeout with 7:18 left in the quarter. By the next timeout with 3:09 left in the first quarter, Atlanta had forced nine turnovers, but only had five points off the turnovers and were shooting just 35% compared to Toronto's 54%.

Just like yesterday's game, Keaton Wallace, De'Andre Hunter, and Garrison Matthews were a part of the bench unit, but for the first time in five games, Onyeka Okongwu was back in the rotation, which was huge considering the news of Larry Nance injuring his shooting hand in the loss to Miami.

Zacch & Trae hit threes to start the evening pic.twitter.com/qywbiRVE2i

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 29, 2024

The Hawks were red hot to start the game, especially from three. They shot 54% from three (7-13) and Trae Young had a fantastic opening quarter, scoring nine points and handing out nine assists. The Raptors did shoot 50% from the floor, but only 20% (1-5) from three. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with eight points. Atlanta led 35-25 after the first quarter.

The second quarter started much like the first. Toronto had four turnovers in the first four and a half minutes, but the Hawks were leaving points on the court. They only hit three of their first 10 shots, while Toronto opened 5-6. The Raptors were scoring whenever they were not turning the ball over, but the Hawks led by 10 with 7:35 left in the first half.

The end of the first half was a disaster for the Hawks. The offense could not score in the final couple of minutes and then Chris Boucher hit an acrobatic shot as time expired to cut the lead to six at halftime. It felt like the Hawks should be up more than 64-58.

At the half, Atlanta was shooting 44% from the field and 42% from three, which was their advantage because Toronto was shooting 57% from the field, but only 27% from three. Young had 17 points and six assists at halftime, but the bigger story was Hunter. Hunter had 17 points on 7-8 shooting and continued to look like the front-runner for 6th man of the year.

After ending the first half poorly, the Hawks had their best quarter of the game in the third and dominated the Raptors. Atlanta outscored Toronto 40-24 and shot 60% from the field and 36% from three. Young had 12 points and three assists, Risacher had seven points, and Okongwu had nine points off the bench.

It was a horrible shooting quarter for the Raptors. They shot 27% from the floor and 13% (1-8) from three, not to mention eight turnovers. Aside from Poeltl scoring eight quick points to start the quarter, nobody on Toronto could find a rhythm. The Hawks led 104-82 heading into the final quarter. It was another brilliant quarter for Young, who scored 12 points and had three assists. Risacher added in seven points, Okongwu scored nine points off the bench, and the Hawks shot 60% from the field and 36% from three in the quarter, while Toronto shot a horrible 27% from the field and 13% (1-8) from three.

The Hawks did not let up in the 4th quarter and cruised to a victory. The starters came out halfway through and Atlanta finished off a 136-107 victory.