With an All-Star performance, Trae Young leads the Hawks over Kevin Durant and the Suns, 129–120.

When the Hawks host the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night, they will resume play.

The Phoenix Suns, who have won nine of their previous eleven games, entered their matchup with the Hawks as one of the hottest teams in the NBA for the past month. They faced a Hawks club that had trouble stopping anyone, but they were healthy.

Atlanta needed this victory, and although they won’t acknowledge it, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Trae Young turned in one of his greatest games of the season today. Perhaps his exclusion from the All-Star Game served as incentive. In the end, the Hawks defeated the Suns and recorded one of their best victories of the year.

The Hawks continued to start with the same lineup that has appeared in most of their games this year. The Hawks’ starting lineup of Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.

The Suns’ starting lineup of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Kevin Durant, and Jusuf Nurkic.

Because both teams possessed excellent offensive players, this game had the potential to be high-scoring, and the first quarter delivered on that promise.

At the beginning of the game, both sides traded baskets and the action was back and forth. With 7:58 remaining in the first quarter, the Suns led 15–12 during the first break, and the Hawks had shown some concerning early play. Due to Capela’s two rapid fouls and subsequent substitution to the bench, Onyeka Okongwu entered the game earlier than usual.

Patty Mills and Bogdan Bogdanovic joined the game after Okongwu. Even though Mills hasn’t participated in every game, he generally finds a way to contribute, and this evening was no exception. In addition to giving the hustle the Hawks needed, Mills got a steal and was circulating and getting the ball out quickly on offense.

In the first quarter, Young proved unstoppable against the Sun’s defense. In the first quarter, he was 3-3 from three, scoring 11 points and putting the Hawks ahead 33-30. But it was more than just scoring. In the first quarter of the game against Phoenix, Young demonstrated why he is one of the NBA’s best passers, if not the best.

In the first quarter, Booker scored nine points for Phoenix, while Nurkic scored eight.

Although the offenses continued to trade baskets in the second quarter, there were brief moments when it appeared as though Atlanta would take the lead.

Wesley Matthews played a significant part for the remainder of the game after seeing his first action in the first half, however this was not immediately apparent.

Although the Hawks have historically been a below-average team in giving up the ball, they only did it twice in the first half.

With 3:12 left in the first half, the Hawks led 58-52, but the Suns played hard to end the quarter and only fell behind 66-63 at the break.

In the first half, Atlanta shot 35% from three and 49% from the field. Young scored 17 points and dished out nine assists in the first half alone, almost achieving a double-double. It appeared as though he would be heading into another 30–10 game.

Although the Hawks bench output has received criticism from me on occasion this season, they played a fantastic first half. Bogdanovic scored twelve, while Okongwu

In the first half, the Suns hit 44% from three and 55% from the field. Booker had 11 points, while Durant had 16.

In the second half, could the Hawks hold on? They had to make sure Phoenix didn’t pick any steam in the second half since they have been among the worst third-quarter teams in the NBA this year.