Young leads Atlanta to second straight
Hawks’ star scores 36; Shen grad Huerter adds 21 points in win
Memphis, Tenn.
Trae Young scored eight straight points down the stretch and finished with 36 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-112 Saturday night.
Shenendehowa graduate Kevin Huerter added 21 points for the Hawks, who won their second straight. De’andre Hunter finished with 15 points and rookie Nathan Knight added 14 points, going 4-for-5 from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from 3-point range.
Ja Morant led Memphis with 28 points and seven assists, and Kyle Anderson finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Dillon Brooks added 19 points before fouling out in the closing seconds.
The game was a showdown between two of the league’s top young point guards in Young and Morant, both of whom had big season openers. Young had 37 points in the Hawks’ 124-104 win at Chicago, while Morant scored a career-high 44 in a home loss to San Antonio.
Young scored 10 points in the final 2:40 against the Grizzlies, starting with the eight straight to keep Memphis from overtaking Atlanta.
The young guards carried their teams through the first half, with the Hawks also getting an early burst from Huerter, who had 13 points at the break, hitting all five of his shots.
The Hawks held a 58-56 lead at the half.
Magic 130, Wizards 120: Orlando beat Washington to overcome another triple-double by Russell Westbrook in his home debut for the Wizards. Westbrook had 15 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assistst to become the fourth player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his team’s first two games. Magic Johnson (twice), Jerry Lucas, and Oscar Robertson previously accomplished the feat. Westbrook is the first player to do it with a new team after being acquired from Houston in the offseason for John Wall. Terrence Ross scored 25 points to lead Orlando.
Thunder 109, Hornets 107: Shai Gilgeous-alexander knocked down a go-ahead jumper with 1.4 seconds left and finished with 24 points, helping Oklahoma City hold off a furious rally by Charlotte to win its season opener. Cavaliers 128, Pistons 119 (2OT): Collin Sexton scored 32 points and three of his teammates had at least 21 points, helping Cleveland beat Detroit in two overtimes.
Pacers 125, Bulls 106: Domantas Sobonis had 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, and Indiana used big scoring runs in the second and third quarters to cruise to a victory over Chicago.
Spurs 119, Raptors 114: Demar Derozan had 27 points and San Antonio rallied in the final minute to beat Toronto.
Notes: Houston is preparing to have only nine available players, James Harden among them, for their first two games of the season because of ongoing quarantine issues related to the coronavirus pandemic. The Rockets play their opener in Portland on Saturday and visit Denver on Monday. They will be without John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Gordon and Mason Jones for those games, all listed as out by the Rockets with “health and safety protocols” as the reason. ... Stephen Curry made 105 straight 3-pointers to finish practice Saturday leading into Golden State’s game Sunday game at Chicago. The Warriors said they captured the final 103 on video.