TRAE YOUNG SCORED 24 points as the Atlanta Hawks thrashed the Charlotte Hornets while the New Orleans Pelicans eliminated San Antonio in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
A decisive burst of scoring from Young and De’Andre Hunter in the third quarter saw the Hawks take control against an outclassed Charlotte team at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
Atlanta will now face Cleveland in the final round of the play-in tournament on Friday, where a place in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs – against top-seeded Miami — will be up for grabs.
“We’re clicking at the right time and this is the time to be clicking,” Young said.
After edging into a 60-52 halftime lead, Atlanta effectively sealed victory with a devastating third-quarter performance, outscoring the Hornets 42-24 and racing into a lead that stretched to 26 points at one stage.
The #MetaQuestPlayIn continues Friday on ESPN and TNT@ATLHawks vs. @cavs
— NBA (@NBA) April 14, 2022
Friday, April 15th 7:30pm/et on ESPN @PelicansNBA vs. @LAClippers
Friday, April 15th 10:00pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/t8NwZDnlAc
Hunter and Young combined for 30 of those points in the third quarter, Hunter scoring 16 and Young adding 14, including three from outside the arc.
Hunter finished with 22 points as Atlanta’s balanced offense once again shared the scoring around.
Six Atlanta players finished in double figures, with Danilo Gallinari claiming 18 points, Clint Capela chipping in with 15 and Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic adding 13 points apiece.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can play,” Young said. “We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries this year but we’ve got a lot of guys who can step up and make plays anytime throughout the game.”
- McCollum spurs Pelicans -
New Orleans proved too strong for a youthful San Antonio side in the Western Conference’s sudden death elimination game, winning 113-103.
C.J. McCollum led the scoring with 32 points as the Pelicans punched their ticket to a win-or-go-home against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.
The winner of that game will advance to a first round playoff series against the top-seeded Phoenix Suns.
New Orleans were given a scare by San Antonio down the stretch however after the Spurs gradually chipped away at a 21-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to trail by just six points with around five minutes left.
But eight points in the closing stages from Brandon Ingram, who finished with 27 points, and a big defensive display from Jonas Valanciunas (22 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks) settled the Pelicans’ nerves and closed out the win.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of showing poise down the stretch,” McCollum said. “We had some lapses, but all in all it was a good defensive effort.”
The defeat could possibly be the last NBA game in the glittering career of San Antonio’s veteran coach Gregg Popovich.
The 73-year-old led the Spurs to five NBA championships but has faced increased speculation about his future this season, with many around the NBA tipping that he may retire after 26 seasons.
🏀 @B_Ingram13 started the night with a MONSTER slam before leading the @PelicansNBA in the clutch to seal their #MetaQuestPlayIn victory!
— NBA (@NBA) April 14, 2022
The Pels will face the Clippers in a Win or Go Home matchup with the 8th seed in the West at stake.
NOP vs LAC
April 15th at 10pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/irjtTJfjCr
Popovich however quickly shut down questions about whether he planned to return next season.
“That question’s inappropriate,” Popovich told a reporter, instead preferring to dwell on the growth of his young team, who have an average of 24.
“We’ve never quit all year long and tonight was a good example,” Popovich said. “We played poorly for three quarters and the three best players for New Orleans all played great. If that happens, you’re going to lose if you don’t match it.”
“It’s the playoffs. The physicality and the grunt is really important, and we didn’t have it for three quarters,” he added.
“Great lessons for our guys. I don’t know if it was the enormity of the situation …Our youth showed until we collected ourselves, but it took too long.”
Excellent piece as always Murray. It actually just goes to show how much Prendergast and Gibson Park controlled the game with their kicking. Although Sam made a number of errors some of the stuff you have highlighted above were top drawer. He’s trying things far beyond his years already. I think this spooks people. No doubt when Ireland do eventually lose there will be many from certain parts placing all the blame on his young shoulders. It’s sad to see how toxic some Irish supporters are
@anthony davoren: the toxic reaction to Prendergast is astonishing. Sexton had it bad when he emerged but this is another level of completely unwarranted vitriol. Interesting that they are two players in the same position from the same province. I can’t recall any other player from any province experiencing this
@Gavin Healy: Rog had the exact same rubbish thrown at him also about his defending . It happens everywhere unfortunately.
@Johs Morris: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people discussing that Prendergast’s defence needs to improve. It’s a fair comment that I’m sure even he agrees with. Doesn’t explain or justify the vitriol he is getting from certain quarters desperate to lay into him at any opportunity.
@Gavin Healy: of course his defence needs work as does all aspects of his game because he’s only just gone 22. But what he is doing at his age is generally unheard of which is why he is so highly regarded by his peers already. Trolls will be trolls and we seem to have many here. Gibson Park, Lowe, Aki and Doris got the same crap early in their Irish career
@anthony davoren: And Lowe and Doris still do to a large extent unfortunately. Once all of the pieces start coming together for Sam P, I think there is a potentially really good player in there. Like you said, he’s just turned 22 and can do things that a lot of other established 10s don’t have. The tackling will come on hopefully. Likewise when he is given more licence to take it to the line more regularly it will be very interesting to observe.
@anthony davoren: Munster legend Tony Ward on Sam…
“Sam Prendergast, under immense pressure, had a big game too with his tactical kicking bettered only by his truly extraordinary passing.
It’s tough on Crowley, and I know a thing or two about that, but in terms of linking between forwards and backs Prendergast is beyond any and every individual to have gone before in that No 10 shirt. His predecessor Johnny Sexton probably the closest in that linking aspect.”
Super piece
Excellent analysis. I actually think this was an excellent match to prepare us for France. Not sure we would have got any value if we had walloped the previous version of Wales that France and Italy played.
It’s interesting how ireland are playing now. Everything in their own half is kicked, they don’t even try to run the ball anymore which is risk free rugby to be fair. Prendergast is basically playing a deep role in our half to utilise his major strength, his fantastic kicking. Bar the long pass to aki where he beat 3 English defenders to score, I don’t think prendergast has been creative at all really and that’s where the balance of his game looks off. That’s probably the coaches plan though
@munsterman: i think the law changes and ref interpretations means you are now mad to play any rugby in your own half. More the pity as I used to love the French teams of old who’d go from anywhere. Much less risky to kick long especially if you can make it contestable. SP has outstanding length and accuracy on his kicks, something which Crowley can’t match unfortunately. Crowley is more suited to a running or short kicking game or when the game breaks up. Crowley wasn’t « dropped « for playing poorly which is why many people are upset, he was « dropped « due to a major change of tactical approach from Ireland that probably makes sense in the current game
@Michael Corkery: I’d agree there 100%. It’s just interesting to watch & most international teams copy each other to a certain extent, so If the new non-sheparding rules cause all teams to start kicking the leather off it then it won’t be long until the irb start fiddling with the rules again
@munsterman: I’m not sure what they can do with it. Can’t bring back shepherding because IRB sign off on that tactic would turn into a shitshow of jostling. Would need to be a change elsewhere to encourage running rugby rather than diacourage kicking, but not sure how that would look
@Gary D: the irb want running rugby so they’ll tinker in some way. The problem they have is it doesn’t take long for the best coaches to get ahead of them again. That’s why there’s so many rule changes pretty much on a yearly basis. Who’d wanna be a ref!
@Michael Corkery: agree. No doubt it won’t be long until the laws change yet again of course.
@munsterman: think they need to focus on tidying up the breakdown. It’s too easy to make a mess of an attacking breakdown which is why teams will now kick rather than go multiple phases especially in own half. The threat from kicks means teams are keeping players in the backfield so theoretically at least, there should be space to attack from deep. Its not an easy one either as you don’t want endless recycling of ball at uncontested rucks any more than you want relentless kicking. If the French with their outrageous talent behind the scrum think it’s better to kick long, then the balance is probably not right
@Michael Corkery: I think this is a fair take, but also something that will have been communicated to Jack if it is the case.
Just to add to the list – David Humphreys also had the negativity directed at him – so I think it shows how pivotal the out half position is that it draws a level of criticism over and above any other position. The hooker is the next level usually around throwing into lineouts. Anyway, so far so good with SP – just needs to work on his defence!!
@Keno: the stick that Humphreys got came from the same place as that for Sexton and Prendergast.