Trae Young scores career-high 49 but Hawks fall in four overtimes

Trae Young played one of the best games of his life, but it wasn’t enough on Friday night as the Chicago Bulls outlasted the Hawks 168-161 in a four-overtime slugfest at State Farm Arena.

The Hawks rookie hit a go-ahead shot with 2.2 seconds left in regulation and a game-tying shot at the end of the first overtime en route to a career-high 49 points, but couldn’t find the finishing touches. He played 56 minutes.

Zach LaVine’s driving layup in the fourth overtime put the Bulls up 166-161 with just over 30 seconds to play did just enough to finally subdue the Hawks.

Young also finished with 16 assists and eight rebounds. He is the first rookie in NBA history to post at least 45 points and 15 assists in a single game. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Young scored or assisted on 86 points for the Hawks, the most by a rookie in NBA history.

Young became just the fourth player in the last 20 years to make two game-tying or go-ahead field goals in the last five seconds of the fourth quarter and overtime, per ESPN Stats & Info.

“That was a fun game to play in, probably one of the most fun games I’ve played in my career,” Young said. “We were going through things. I’m proud of the way we fought, even though we came up short.”

Besides him, six Hawks finished in double figures, led by Alex Len with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Vince Carter played a season high 45 minutes and contributed 13 points for the undermanned Hawks. John Collins was sick and did not play, Omari Spellman left the game in regulation with a lower leg injury and Dewayne Dedmon and Taurean Prince fouled out in overtime.

The throwback performance marked Carter’s 1,463rd NBA appearance, enough to take him past Kevin Garnett for sole possession of sixth-most in league history.

“It was good fun. At a point in my mind, I knew I was kind of tired, but I just didn’t think about it,” Carter said. “If I need to play a lot of minutes or limited minutes, I’ll do it. I just prepare myself to play.”

LaVine led the Bulls with his own career high of 47 points to go with nine rebounds and nine assists. He played 56 minutes too. Otto Porter scored 31 points and had 10 boards. Lauri Markkanen added 31 points and 17 rebounds.

By the third overtime, it was clear fatigue had set in for both sides. After LaVine’s layup with 1:06 remaining in the period tied the game at 155, neither team scored thanks to poor execution on set plays. Len’s errant heave at the buzzer sent the game to a fourth overtime.

In the second overtime, Len made his second game-saving defensive play of the game. The Bulls had the last chance of the period in a tie game with 3.2 seconds on the clock. Kris Dunn got the ball off the inbounds play, crossed over his defender and looked to have an open lane to the hoop for the winning layup. But Len closed on Dunn and forced a miss, sending the game to a third overtime.

Len’s first game-saving play came one period before. At the end of the first overtime, the Bulls had a chance to ice the game, up two with a 10-second difference in the game and shot clocks. LaVine ended up one-on-one with Len, who made a great defensive play and blocked LaVine’s driving shot.

Young picked up the ball with less than 10 seconds left, and with no timeouts, drove straight down the court to make a layup and tie the game 140-140 with 1.0 seconds left and force another overtime period.

Clutch met clutch at the end of regulation. After coming back from down 97-84 in the fourth quarter, the Hawks thought they had the last possession with the game tied at 121. Young isolated at the top of the key and hit what looked to be a game-winning step-back 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in the game.

On the following possession, Dedmon fouled Porter on a prayer of a 3-point shot, a crucial mistake that sent the Bulls player to the line for three shots. With the arena as loud as it got the entire game, the 77 percent free throw shooter converted all three shots to send the game to overtime tied at 124.

The Hawks took back the lead with 2:22 left in regulation through Young. First, he assisted for a Dedmon dunk off a pick-and-roll to bring the Hawks within two. Two possessions later, he pulled up in transition for a 3-pointer that put Atlanta up 117-116.

“There’s really no winner in this one, no loser in this one,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Four overtimes, you’re just scrambling, and somebody’s got to go down.”

With 329 points, Friday’s matchup was the third-highest scoring game in NBA history, and the highest since 1983.

It was the only game to go to four overtimes in the NBA this season.

The last time a Bulls player and a Hawks player both scored at least 40 points in the same game, the players were Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins.

This article was written by Parker Johnson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

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