(Field Level Media) Trae Young scored a season-high 42 points and had 11 assists, Jabari Parker had 20 points and nine rebounds, and the visiting Atlanta Hawks beat the Denver Nuggets 125-121 last night. The Hawks’ Alex Len scored 17 and Kevin Huerter had 11 points before leaving with a left shoulder injury early in the second half.
Will Barton had 21 points, Nikola Jokic scored 20, Paul Millsap had 19 and Jamal Murray finished with 18 for Denver. Monte Morris added 14 off the bench for the Nuggets. Huerter went up with the ball just outside the lane when Jokic came down hard on his left arm. Huerter grabbed his arm in pain and walked off the court, then to the locker room with the team trainer with 9:57 left in the third quarter. The Hawks were able to increase their lead in the minutes after he exited. Young hit two 3-pointers and Hunter had a dunk and a layup to make it 82-69, Atlanta’s biggest lead to that point.
The Nuggets got it down to eight but the Hawks managed a dunk by Len and another 3-pointer by Young, who then turned and said something to the Denver bench before running down the court.
The Hawks led 98-89 after three, but Denver, like it did against the Philadelphia 76ers in its previous home game, made a run in the fourth quarter. Down by eight, the Nuggets went on a 10-2 run capped by Gary Harris’ 3-pointer and layup to tie it at 101 with 8:16 left. Len hit three free throws and Young a 29-footer to put Atlanta back up by six. Young’s floater in the lane with 3:55 left made it 114-106. Denver got within four points twice but Young closed it out from the foul line. The Nuggets scored the first 12 points of the game but Atlanta wiped away that deficit and stormed into the lead at halftime. Young scored 14 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter, when the Hawks shot 68 percent and outscored Denver 38-20.