Thursday December 26th, 2024 6:59AM

Young's double-double leads Hawks past Rockets

By Kristie Rieken AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON — Trae Young had 30 points and 14 assists as the Atlanta Hawks withstood a late charge by the Houston Rockets to get a 134-127 victory Wednesday night.

It’s the fifth straight game in which Young has had at least 30 points and 10 assists, which is the longest such streak of his career.

Houston used an 14-0 run to cut the lead to 127-123 with about 90 seconds to go. Fred VanVleet had five points in that stretch and Dillon Brooks capped it with a 3-pointer.

Young scored Atlanta’s first points in almost five minutes on a jump shot after that. But Young turned the ball over a few seconds later and a layup by Brooks got the Rockets within 4 again with just under a minute to go.

Saddiq Bey made a 3-pointer for the Hawks to stretch the lead to 132-125 with 35 seconds left and Atlanta held on for the win.

The Hawks led by as many as 20 early after making eight 3-pointers in the first quarter. They cooled down after that and made just nine the rest of the way to finish 17 of 40 from long-range.

Jabari Smith Jr. led the Rockets with a career-high 34 points with 13 rebounds and VanVleet had a season-high 32 points with 15 assists as Houston lost a third straight game.

Atlanta had an 8-point lead before using a 10-0 run to make it 127-109 midway through the fourth. Onyeka Okongwu made two free throws in that span after Brooks was called for a flagrant-1 foul after hitting him in the groin area while trying to get past a screen.

A 7-0 run by Atlanta made it 114-103 with about eight minutes to go. Brooks and Jalen Green made 3-pointers for Houston but Young made one for Atlanta in between Houston’s two buckets to cut the lead to 117-109.

The Hawks led by 12 at halftime and were up by nine after a shot by Dejounte Murray with about nine minutes left in the third before the Rockets used a 15-5 run to take a 90-89 lead about five minutes later.

Atlanta regained the lead with a 6-0 run late in the third, but Smith made a 3-pointer near the end of the period to leave Houston up 100-98 entering the fourth.

UP NEXT

Hawks: Visit Miami on Friday night.

Rockets: Host Dallas on Friday night.

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