Wednesday night, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Dallas Mavericks 111-104 at the newly-renamed and remodeled State Farm Arena. Swingman Kent Bazemore poured in 32 points. Taurean Prince had 24 and star rookie Trae Young had 17.
The Atlanta Hawks were down 26 points in the second quarter but they kept chipping away. In a bit of irony, as Trae Young struggled, so did the Hawks. Young only had five points through three quarters. However, in the fourth, his game got going. He scored 12 key points. The rookie from Oklahoma proved to be the engine that got Atlanta rolling.
“Some people are going to say he scored more points than me, so that makes him better,” Young said. “At the end of the day, I’m just glad my team won. That’s the main thing for me.”
The Mavericks equaled the third-biggest blown lead in franchise history.
“We took our foot off the gas,” Wesley Matthews said. “We thought it was going to be an easy game. Credit them. They didn’t quit.”
.@ATLHawks come back from 26 points down to beat the @DallasMavs 111-104!
— The Atlanta Voice (@theatlantavoice) October 25, 2018
.@TheTraeYoung had the Mavs on Skates! #TrueToAtlanta #NBA #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/d2YiCkbzNh
State Farm Arena hosted their first basketball game after undergoing a $192.5 million renovation. That project began immediately after the Hawks’ final home game of the 2017-2018 season. Predictably, the fans spent the first half checking out the new digs while the Hawks languished. However, as the Hawks climbed back into the game, the fans became more interested.
Prince was dialed in from long distance. He converted five of nine shot attempts from 3-point range. … DeAndre’ Bembry tallied 16 rebounds in 29 minutes of playing time, extremely productive off the bench. It was not all peaches and creme for the Hawks. Forward Alex Poythress left the game in the first half with an injured knee and did not return. He’ll undergo an MRI on Thursday.
Celebrity sightings: Atlanta Falcons defensive end Takk McKinley was at the game. Also Quavo, 1/3 of rap trio Migos was in attendance. Future performed during halftime and gave a post-game concert.
.@1Future performs “Wicked” with his sons at tonight’s @ATLHawks game! Good night Atlanta!
— The Atlanta Voice (@theatlantavoice) October 25, 2018
#Freebandz #FBG #HipHop #TheAtlantaVoice pic.twitter.com/kNZK8eSb3g
Atlanta’s next game is Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls. Tipoff is 7:30 PM at State Farm Arena.
