Trae Young regained his great form by scoring 41 points and the Atlanta Hawks took advantage of an excellent third quarter to take the measure of the Toronto Raptors 127-100 on Saturday.
Posted yesterday at 11:55 p.m.
Young had 11 assists to forgive a poor performance two days earlier. He had just three of 17 tries in a 112-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Young rebounded by scoring his first four baskets on his first four shots against the Raptors. That hot start illustrated what would be his fifth 40+ point game of the season. He had a career high against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 3 with 56 points.
Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 24 points and nine assists while Precious Achiuwa added 21 points, a season-high for the latter.
The Hawks distanced themselves from the Raptors with a score of 38-16 in the third quarter.
The teams traded leads in the first half.
After retiring to the locker room with a 66-58 lead, the Hawks started the third quarter strong scoring 16 straight points to take an 89-62 lead.
The Raptors suffered their second stinging loss in as many nights. They lost 125-94 to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.