Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young is using the Oklahoma City Thunder’s success last season as personal motivation for this season.
Young, who grew up in Oklahoma and played one season at the University of Oklahoma before turning pro, was inspired by the Thunder’s run to the NBA title and would like to see his Hawks follow the same script.
The teams meet on Saturday when Oklahoma City makes its only visit of the season to Atlanta. The Thunder swept both matchups last season, winning by an average of 20 points.
The Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 141-135 on Thursday in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals and became the first team in league history to play two double-overtime games to start the season. Oklahoma City defeated Houston 125-124 in double OT in the season opener on Tuesday.
The Hawks bounced back from being blown out by the Toronto Raptors in the season opener on Wednesday to erase a 14-point second-half deficit and put up a 111-107 road win over the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Young has done his part, scoring 22 and 25 points in the first two games, including 11 points in the fourth quarter at Orlando. In 13 career games against Oklahoma City, Young is averaging 24.2 points and 9.9 assists.
“I think I was more motivated this summer, being from Oklahoma and seeing those guys win a championship,” Young said. “I know how much the whole city was embracing them and how it took a whole team. It didn’t just take one player, even though they had the MVP of the league. It only takes one year for it to click, and I’m feeling good about this year.”
Atlanta played on Friday without Zaccharie Risacher (right ankle sprain) and Kristaps Porzingis (flu-like symptoms). Nickeil Alexander-Walker (19 points) and Mouhamed Gueye (13 points, eight rebounds) helped pick up the slack.
“We’ve got a team,” Gueye said. “I mean, we miss K.P. and Zach, but we’ve got guys ready to go. We’ve got to do it again on Saturday.”
The Thunder, as usual, are led by league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 45 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 46.5 minutes through two games.
“He is thinking constantly about how he can get better,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “He’s constantly self-reflecting. He’s constantly self-critical.”
In 11 career games against Atlanta, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 26.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
Chet Holmgren is averaging 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Thunder, and Ajay Mitchell is chipping in 21 points per game off the bench. Holmgren, however, is dealing with lower back soreness and is listed as questionable for the Saturday game.
Thunder guard Alex Caruso (concussion protocol) will miss his second consecutive game, while Cason Wallace (left knee sprain) is questionable for Saturday after sitting vs. Indiana. Five more Oklahoma City players, including All-Star Jalen Williams (right wrist surgery) are sidelined, too.
“You deal with this stuff at different points in a season,” Daigneault said. “Every team does. We happen to be dealing with it now, but we try not to make any excuses about it.”
