Trae Young Shines in Return, But Hawks’ Defensive Woes Continue in Wild Loss to Bulls
Trae Young is back-and he didn’t waste any time reminding everyone what he brings to the floor. After missing over a month with a sprained MCL, the Hawks’ star guard suited up for his second game back on Sunday night and delivered the kind of performance fans in Atlanta have come to expect. But even with Young lighting it up, the Hawks couldn’t close the deal in what turned into the NBA’s highest-scoring game of the season-a 152-151 shootout loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Let’s be clear: Young was electric. In just 26 minutes, he poured in 35 points and dished out nine assists, shooting a blistering 10-of-15 from the field and an eye-popping 7-of-8 from beyond the arc.
That kind of efficiency, especially coming off a knee injury, is no small feat. With the performance, Young moved into elite company-now ranking fifth in league history for games with at least 35 points, five assists, and five made threes.
That’s not just a hot night; that’s historically significant output.
But the story of the night wasn’t just about what Young did-it was about what the Hawks couldn’t do. And that’s get a stop.
Atlanta’s defense simply couldn’t hold up, especially in transition. Chicago pushed the pace and exposed every crack in the Hawks’ rotations, capitalizing on mismatches and defensive breakdowns all night long.
Despite Young’s heroics, the Hawks found themselves needing a last-second bucket to stay alive. With the game hanging in the balance, Young had a shot to tie it-but the attempt came up short, and the Bulls escaped with the win.
After the game, Young didn’t sugarcoat the issue.
“Teams are coming in here playing fast against us, and we gotta figure out how to stop teams that want to play fast beating us this way,” he said. “They’ve had our number the last couple of years playing this way, and we gotta figure out how to stop it next game.”
That’s a candid assessment from the face of the franchise-and it’s one that cuts to the heart of Atlanta’s recent struggles. The Hawks have now dropped seven of their last ten, and the defensive issues are becoming a recurring theme. Whether it’s transition defense, communication on switches, or simply effort, something’s missing on that end of the floor.
And that’s the challenge moving forward. Because as good as Trae Young is-and he showed again Sunday that he’s still among the league’s premier offensive engines-he can’t outscore every problem. If the Hawks want to climb back into the thick of the Eastern Conference race, they’ll need to find some answers on defense.
For now, though, Young’s return is a bright spot. He’s healthy, he’s producing, and he’s clearly locked in. But until the Hawks tighten things up defensively, even nights like these-where their star goes off and the scoreboard lights up-might not be enough.