Hawks finish pre-tournament run with 101-93 win over Bulls in Las Vegas

For the first time in a post-John Collins world, the Atlanta Hawks took the floor on Tuesday in Las Vegas. With five straight Summer League losses as the backdrop, things were more favorable on the scoreboard this time around, as the Hawks used an explosive performance to down the Bulls by a final score of 101-93.

The afternoon (er, evening) began in strong fashion for Trae Young, who connected on a trio of threes in the opening minutes on the way to 11 quick points.

Despite the excitement with Young’s most explosive shooting quarter of July, the Hawks found themselves in a 15-point hole after 10 minutes. Most of that damage came as a result of porous defense (33 points allowed) but there was an uptick in the quality of play during the second period.

Antonius Cleveland provided a thunderous dunk (off a pass from Young), while Jaylen Adams also chipped in with a steal and score in transition.

Then, Cleveland added another big-time highlight in transition with a bit of flare on the finish.

That improved performance helped the Hawks claw back within three points (50-47) at the halftime break. From there, Young knocked down two more threes to begin the third quarter and he interspersed those with high-end passes to push the Hawks in front.

The third quarter wrapped up with the Hawks in command, having executed a 59-38 “run” since the end of the first period. The fourth wasn’t as dominant, though it did have some encouraging moments on the way to the win.

All told, Trae Young finished with 24 points (including 7 of 13 from three) and five assists, while Jaylen Adams exploded for 23 points (on 8 of 12 shooting) in reserve duty. Elsewhere, Omari Spellman posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, with Antonius Cleveland (12 points, eight rebounds), Alpha Kaba (10 points, five rebounds) and Jaylen Morris (17 points, six rebounds) enjoying strong performances.

Stay tuned as the Hawks progress into the Summer League Tournament, with the full schedule set to be released later on Tuesday evening.