Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks reacts during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 15, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty image via AFP)
LOS ANGELES – Trae Young scored 32 of his 38 points in the second half as the Atlanta Hawks rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday and book the final NBA Eastern Conference playoff berth.
The Hawks, who finished ninth in the East in the regular season, erased a double-digit deficit midway through halftime play contest to line up the first series against the top seeds of the Miami Eastern Conference, with game one scheduled for Sunday.
It was a heartbreaking end to the season for a Cavaliers youth team who have fallen a step in fear to qualify for next season for the first time since LeBron James left the club in 2018. .
Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks walks around Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on April 15, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty image via AFP)
The Cavs dominated early, but Young found his ball in the second half and five Hawks scored twice to complete the game.
“I felt as if I let my team down in the first half,” said Young, who had four legs and six points ahead of time.
“I missed some shots. We only took 10 shots at half-time and I knew I needed to take a few more shots for my teammates.”
In fact, Young has stepped up his game on all fronts. He scored or assisted on 43 of the 56 points in the second half for Atlanta, accounting for more than 40 points Cleveland scored after the break.
Young said it was just “motivation” as centre-back Clint Capela departed with a super-extended right knee moment before halftime.
Capela grabbed Cavs rookie Evan Mobley from behind while Mobley was firing, but Mobley fell again at Capela’s leg and the veteran fell to the field clutching his painful knee.
After officials reviewed the play, the call of a common error was applied, but Capela was eliminated for the rest of the competition.
“We wanted to win for him,” Young said. “We know how hard he worked throughout the year to want to make it to the knockout stages. We hope he will be able to return for us. “
Cleveland took a double-digit lead in the first quarter, boosted by a three-point shot from Lauri Markkanen, who scored 17 points in the first half.
Markkanen leads the Cavaliers with 16 points and Darius Garland with 21 points.
All-Star quarterback Jarrett Allen returned to Cleveland’s starting line-up after missing 19 games with a broken left finger, scoring 11 points with three rebounds.
But with Young taking the lead, the Hawks turned the game around in the third quarter, taking a three-point lead over Young for the first time with 1:42 remaining in the span.
“Nobody had to say anything to me,” said Young, whose driving basket early in the fourth quarter took the Hawks up like a kite. “I know the work that I put in place, the confidence that I have and I have to go out and show it.”
gsg
Get the hottest sports news straight to your inbox
Continue reading
Registration INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to news, download as early as 4am and share media articles society. Call 896 6000.
For feedback, complaints or enquiries, Contact us.
