Trae Young ejected but Hawks drill Pacers by 13

John Collins scored 21 points and Dejounte Murray added 20 as the Atlanta Hawks overcame an ejection to leading scorer Trae Young and took a 143-130 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Saturday, March 25 (Sunday, March 26, Manila time).

Young was given a technical foul and ejected for throwing the ball harshly back to the referee. The game was tied 84-84 with 7:25 left in the third quarter when the incident occurred. Young was still frustrated about having a three-pointer taken away and turned into an offensive foul. He finished with 14 points and 5 assists.

Atlanta (37-37) also got 18 points from Saddiq Bey, and 17 points and 17 rebounds from Clint Capela. Garrison Mathews, who logged many of Young’s minutes, scored 14 points and made four three-pointers.

Indiana (33-42) was led by reserve Jordan Nwora with 33 points, one shy of his career high. Tyrese Haliburton added 19 points and 13 assists.

Both teams played without a starter. The Pacers were missing Myles Turner (lower back soreness) and the Hawks were without De’Andre Hunter (left knee contusion). 

Indiana’s Chris Duarte returned after missing five games but re-injured his left ankle in the first quarter and did not return.

Atlanta has scored 100-plus points in 49 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in franchise history and the longest such streak in the NBA.

The Pacers started fast, despite not arriving in Atlanta until 2 am following their game in Boston. Indiana led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, only to have the Hawks ride the 11 points they received from reserve AJ Griffin to take a 39-35 lead into the second quarter.

The Pacers led 74-72 at halftime thanks to Nwora, who set a regular-season franchise record with 25 points in the second quarter. Nwora was 9-for-11 from the field with three triples in the quarter. Atlanta outscored the Pacers 71-56 in the second half.

Atlanta completes a home back-to-back on Sunday with a game against Memphis. The Pacers return home to begin a three-game home stand against Dallas on Monday. – Rappler.com