Story by Kevin Chouinard
The Hawks had to go into their first-ever In-Season Tournament game while shorthanded.
"We were missing a big part of our team – the head of the snake – Trae Young," Dejounte Murray said afterward.
Trae missed the game for personal reasons after announcing the birth of his second child, Teal, on social media yesterday, and even though he was away, he tweeted a quick, 'Let's Go Hawks!' at the game's tipoff.
From that point onward, Dejounte gave the Hawks what they needed in every aspect of the game: 32 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. In the process, he became the first player in the NBA this season with at least 30 points, 10 assists, 5 boards and 3 steals in a single game. He did it while making every free throw attempt, only turning the ball over twice, and making his presence felt on the ball defensively.
"DJ on the ball tonight, that was maybe the biggest contribution that he made," Head Coach Quin Snyder said.
In Trae's absence, the Hawks also had to go a little deeper into their bench. Trent Forrest had 2 points, 4 assists and 0 turnovers in 13 minutes while giving the Hawks another competent defender at the point of attack. Garrison Mathews and AJ Griffin each hit threes in the first half, and Saddiq Bey finished as the Hawks' second-leading scorer with 19 points while doing a little bit of everything in his 27 minutes.
With their first In-Season Tournament win, the Hawks (1-0) moved into second place among the five teams of East Group A. They face third-place Philadelphia (1-1) at home Friday, before taking on first-place Indiana (2-0) Tuesday, also at home, before closing out Group Play on the road in Cleveland.
The top team from each of the six groups advances to the Knockout Rounds of the In-Season Tournament with two additional wild card teams rounding out the group of eight to advance. The wild card will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group.
As the Hawks get further into the In-Season Tournament, certainly the Hawks would love to have Trae back in action, but in any case, Dejounte Murray remains as a worthy head of the snake in his own right.