Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young did everything he could to lift the Atlanta Hawks to victory Monday night, but it wasn't enough as they suffered a 136-131 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Young dropped a career-high 56 points—the second 50-point game of his career—along with 14 assists to go with just four turnovers. He shot 17-of-26 from the floor and 7-of-12 from three.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM48EFd5rvc

According to the Hawks, no other player in NBA history has ever matched Young's numbers:

The only player in NBA history to have 55+ points and 14+ assists in a single game 🥶@TheTraeYoung x #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/7vgYHqHogM

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 4, 2022

The 2019-20 All-Star opened with 16 points and five dimes in the first quarter and didn't slow down from there. By the end, though, Atlanta's supporting cast was running out of steam. Young accounted for 15 of the Hawks' 26 points in the fourth quarter.

His performance caught the eye of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant:

damn trae 🥶 . a cold mf https://t.co/eiwVDdbzl8

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 4, 2022

But this probably isn't the company Young wanted to join:

Trae Young just became the first player since Tiny Archibald in 1973, and just the second in NBA history, to post 50+ points and 14+ assists in a game his team did not win.

— Ben Dowsett (@Ben_Dowsett) January 4, 2022

The result is also emblematic of a season that's falling well short of Atlanta's expectations. 

The Hawks rank 25th in defensive rating (112.3), per NBA.com, and their leaky defense was on full display. Not only did the Trail Blazers shoot 52.8 percent overall—18-of-41 on three-pointers—but they also did so without either Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum. Both stars were unavailable for non-COVID reasons.

Young's offensive contributions were somewhat undercut by the fact Anfernee Simons poured in 43 points on the other end of the court. He wasn't having much luck slowing Simons down, either.

Anfernee Simons powers his way to the rack and ties a career-high with 37 points 💪@trailblazers lead with a few minutes remaining. pic.twitter.com/W1YQ1j2kOf

— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) January 4, 2022

At 16-20, the Hawks sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors for the final play-in spot.

On the heels of reaching the conference finals last year, Young was candid when he said the regular season is "a lot more boring than the playoffs" and that emulating a postseason-like level of motivation night in, night out can be difficult.

Young certainly rose to the occasion Monday. The effort wasn't exactly there from the rest of the roster.

If fans are having trouble keeping up with the many new players being cycled in and out of the NBA due to health and safety protocols, just imagine trying to be a player not knowing who will be suiting up on any given night.

Speaking to The Athletic's Chris Kirschner after Wednesday's 131-117 loss to the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young admitted he arrived at the team's shootaround before tipoff "not knowing most of my teammates."

The NBA has adjusted its rules in-season so that teams can sign players under a hardship exception that allows them to exceed the traditional 15-player roster limit. The move was done in order to accommodate potential absences for injury or health and safety protocols.

As of Wednesday, per Gilbert McGregor of Sporting News, there are 129 people in the NBA's health and safety protocols between players and head coaches.

The Hawks currently have a league-high 12 players unavailable because of protocols, including starters John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter.

Atlanta's starting five against the Bulls included Young, Chaundee Brown, Cam Reddish, Skylar Mays and Clint Capela.

Mays, a second-round draft pick in 2020, did appear in 33 games off the bench as a rookie. He has started three of the past five games for the Hawks.

Brown, an undrafted rookie out of Michigan, signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers in November. He appeared in two games with the Lakers earlier this month before being waived Dec. 21. Atlanta then signed him to a 10-day contract.

Three of the Hawks' five bench players who played against the Bulls have a combined 11 games of NBA experience, including Wednesday's game.

A total of 23 players have already appeared in a game for the Hawks this season. Only 18 players appeared in a game with the team during the entire 2020-21 season.   

The Chicago Bulls keep finding ways to win. The Atlanta Hawks can't seem to find any consistency this season.

Led by the dynamic duo of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls knocked off Atlanta 130-118 on Monday night.

ZACH LAVINE DOUBLE-CLUTCH DUNK 😮 pic.twitter.com/slzlCYqDk0

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 28, 2021

LaVine left 'em in the dust 😳 https://t.co/1UeMYzKnGO

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 28, 2021

DeRozan is the only player in the NBA we'd trust to take 90% of his shots pic.twitter.com/1tgYCDHj7e

— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) December 28, 2021

DeRozan making unbelievable plays in iso, nothing new here pic.twitter.com/pUvVbrxLz2

— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) December 28, 2021

There wasn't much Atlanta could do against a Bulls team that shot 18-of-37 from three (48.6 percent) and had 29 assists on 51 made field goals.

Chicago (21-10) has now won four games in a row and eight of its last 10, while the Hawks (15-18) find themselves in a 4-9 stretch dating back to late November.

The Bulls and Hawks took very different approaches to the offseason. The Bulls, who missed the playoffs last year, were extremely busy in the summer, adding players like DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, among others.

The Bulls are about to move to 11 games over .500 for 1st time since finishing 50-32 in on April 15, 2015, Tom Thibodeau's final season as coach.

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 28, 2021

The Hawks kept their young core intact, meanwhile, after surprisingly reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

Both approaches made sense. But at least for the moment, the Bulls and Hawks are moving in opposite directions.

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Key Stats

Zach LaVine, CHI: 30 points, nine assists

DeMar DeRozan, CHI: 35 points, 10 assists, five rebounds

Nikola Vucevic, CHI: 24 points, 17 rebounds, six assists

Trae Young, ATL: 29 points, nine assists

Cam Reddish, ATL: 33 points

Bogdan Bogdanovic, ATL: 20 points

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LaVine And DeRozan Were en Fuego

When your two best players combine to shoot 25-of-41 from the field and 7-of-10 from three, post 65 combined points and dish 19 combined assists, well, you're going to be tough to beat.

Put simply, LaVine and DeRozan were awesome Monday night. Just awesome.

"What a shot...23 big ones!"

Zach LaVine ends his highest-scoring 1st half of the season with a buzzer beater on NBA TV 🚨 pic.twitter.com/rtzSPaI0cp

— NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2021

Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are the first pair of teammates to reach 20+ points and 5+ assists in a single half since the start of the play-by-play era (1997-98). @EliasSports

LaVine: 23 PTS, 5 AST
DeRozan: 21 PTS, 5 AST pic.twitter.com/6wBsBJxFdv

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 28, 2021

The LaVine/DeRozan shotmaking ability is just absurd

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 28, 2021

DeRozan is the 42nd highest paid player in the league this season. He went from the worst contract of the offseason to perhaps the best non-rookie scale deal in the NBA. https://t.co/aei3VU56ew

— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) December 28, 2021

It was DeRozan's ninth 30-point game of the season and LaVine's 10th. DeRozan also had his first double-double of the year. They were so good that they made Nikola  Vucevic's monster night a virtual afterthought.

There's a reason the Bulls have been one of the top teams in the NBA this season, and it starts with this duo. On a night when Chicago didn't have Ball or Caruso available, LaVine and DeRozan put on an absolute show.

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Reddish More Than Did His Part

For the second time in the past four games, Reddish eclipsed the 30-point mark. He made a career-high eight threes. He did his best to give Young a running mate to keep up with the red-hot pair of LaVine and DeRozan on a night when the Hawks were short-handed.

Trae Young dishes it out to Reddish for the 3️⃣ https://t.co/KcBTSZBxzS

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 28, 2021

CAM REDDISH IS HAVING A CAREER NIGHT ♨️

🔥 33 Pts
🔥 8-10 3 PT FG pic.twitter.com/zGODKFRttr

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 28, 2021

Reddish with the filthy euro for 2️⃣ 😍pic.twitter.com/XEtEoThcZF

— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) December 28, 2021

Ultimately, the Hawks came up short. That isn't on Reddish, though.

It's fair to question his future in Atlanta given the team's stockpile of talented wings and need for a true star next to Young. But if nothing else, he sure is increasing his trade value by the day.

And in that vein, I’d be pretty comfortable giving up a 2022 first for Cam Reddish with ease if the Hawks want one of those. I think I would rather have Reddish than like, the No. 11 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. https://t.co/94DeumfNWV

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) December 28, 2021

Well, if the Hawks dare to trade him at this point, that is.

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What's Next?

These teams meet again in Chicago on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

The Atlanta Hawks placed forwards John Collins and Jalen Johnson in health and safety protocols following Saturday's loss to the New York Knicks.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported 10 Hawks players are now in protocols.

Atlanta played Saturday with a bare-bones roster that had Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari, among others, all out of the lineup. The Hawks stood little chance of putting forth any offensive effort in their 101-87 loss to the Knicks.

It's unclear whether the Hawks will have the eight players required to play in Monday's game against the Chicago Bulls, who are themselves coming off a massive outbreak that led to two postponements and another game pushed back because of an outbreak on the Toronto Raptors.

Wojnarowski reported the Hawks plan to sign Chaundee Brown to a 10-day hardship contract. 

Collins is averaging 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds this season, his first in a five-year, $125 million pact he signed in August. Johnson was the Hawks' first-round pick this season out of Duke but has gotten minimal playing time.

Atlanta Hawks forward Cam Reddish is reportedly drawing interest on the trade market.

Marc Stein reported it's unlikely the Hawks would be willing to trade Reddish without receiving a first-round pick in return. 

Atlanta selected Reddish with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 draft, and he's shown flashes while largely being a disappointment. The Duke product is averaging 12.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season while shooting a career-high 41.1 percent from the floor, including a 37.0 percent clip from three-point range. 

If Reddish is able to continue shooting the three at a solid rate, he'll carve out a career as a rangy forward who can reasonably defend three positions. That said, he's more of a luxury than a necessity for a Hawks team that already has De'Andre Hunter and Danilo Gallinari. 

Atlanta is a disappointing 15-17 this season after making a surprise run to the conference finals in 2020-21. It's clear some roster adjustments are necessary to get things back on track, and Reddish is arguably the most expendable among the team's young core players.

The next step will be finding a trade partner with an able-bodied veteran and a draft pick willing to make a bet on Reddish's potential. 

Fans at Madison Square Garden didn't forget about Trae Young, even though the Atlanta Hawks star wasn't available for the Christmas Day game against the New York Knicks. 

Late in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' 101-87 win over the Hawks, fans broke out a "f--k Trae Young" chant. 

Young tweeted about the New York City fans acknowledging him, despite not being in the building:

They only say it at the end now?!?
🤔🤔🤔smart 😂

*at least all I heard🤫

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) December 25, 2021

Young joined an illustrious group of NBA players who have drawn the ire of Knicks fans thanks to his antics last postseason.

After hitting the game-winning shot in the final seconds of Game 1 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Young put his finger to his mouth and was seen mouthing "it's quiet as f--k in here" to the MSG crowd. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujy7hN-THb8

Knicks fans responded in Game 2 by breaking out a "f--k Trae Young" chant in the final seconds of New York's 101-92 victory. 

That would be the last celebratory moment for the Knicks and their fans during the 2020-21 season. Young led the Hawks to three straight victories to send New York home. He dropped 36 points in the decisive Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. 

Young missed his third straight game on Saturday due to health and safety protocols. The 23-year-old will have a chance to address Knicks fans in person when the Hawks return to New York on March 22. 

Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young did not clear the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols in time to play Saturday's Christmas Day road game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shared the team's list of players who will be sidelined:

Hawks injury report for Christmas Day game adds that Onyeka Okongwu is out in health and safety protocols.

That's nine players in protocols for them.

Both Cam Reddish and Delon Wright are probable to play. pic.twitter.com/B4MXbX60jK

— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) December 24, 2021

Young has been durable in the early portion of his career and appeared in at least 60 games in each of his first three seasons, even though two of them were shortened from the traditional 82-game schedule.

The 23-year-old is one of the league's top rising young stars and led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals last season while averaging 25.3 points, 9.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game.

The Oklahoma product has followed up with averages of 27.3 points and 9.3 assists through 29 appearances in 2021-22.

Young is the on-floor leader for Atlanta, and it will be hard-pressed to compete with the best teams in the league if he isn't healthy. Bogdan Bogdanovic and John Collins figure to be the Hawks' offensive focal points in his absence.

Veteran player Lance Stephenson has reportedly signed a 10-day hardship contract with the Atlanta Hawks after playing with the G League's Grand Rapids Gold.

NBA writer Marc Stein reported the deal after initially saying Stephenson was "being lined up" by the Hawks. 

He joins Isaiah Thomas and Nik Stauskas as veterans who have re-joined the NBA this season from the Gold. 

Stephenson, 31, last appeared in an NBA game for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018-19 season. After being a second-round pick in the 2010 NBA draft for the Indiana Pacers, Stephenson spent nine seasons in the league with Indy (two stints), the Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves and Lakers. 

He averages 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from three in his career. 

Known for his solid defense, secondary playmaking and unique attempts to get under LeBron James' skin, Stephenson largely served as a role player in his career. 

As for the Hawks, superstar point guard Trae Young has reportedly entered into the COVID-19 protocols, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

He is the only Hawks player in the league's health and safety protocols, though the team had its Sunday matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers postponed after the Cavs had five players entered the health and safety protocols that morning, joining Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro, who were already placed in them.

On Sunday night, the NBA and NBPA came to an agreement that would allow teams to sign an additional player for every member of its roster that goes in the league's health and safety protocols.

The NBA confirmed Sunday's game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks won't be played because of a COVID-19 outbreak among the Cavs.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the decision.

Cleveland's shortage of players precipitated the postponement, sources said. https://t.co/OtfKAwSpEV

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 19, 2021

Wojnarowski previously reported Cleveland likely wouldn't have the minimum eight players required to play the game because of a series of positive COVID-19 tests. 

The Cavs announced Saturday that Evan Mobley had entered the NBA's health and safety protocols. That came two days after Isaac Okoro went into the protocols. 

According to Wojnarowski, Jarrett Allen is one of the five new players going into the protocols. He also reported Hawks star Trae Young entered into the protocols Sunday. 

Wojnarowski and Baxter Holmes previously reported about an NBA board of governors call that took place Friday during which there "was an overwhelming sentiment among NBA owners to do whatever is necessary to avoid postponements and cancellations this season."

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted that the "majority of players" who fall under the NBA's hardship umbrella are in Las Vegas for the G League Cup and "travel logistics present a challenge to get extra bodies in uniform by tonight."  

The NBA already had to postpone two games because of COVID-19 outbreaks, both involving the Chicago Bulls. 

Per James Herbert of CBS Sports, there are currently 19 teams that have at least one player in health and safety protocols. 

Cleveland played the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Saturday night. Its game against the Hawks was scheduled to be played at 7:30 p.m. ET.  

Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young is reportedly the latest big-name NBA player to enter the league's health and safety protocols.

On Sunday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Young was placed in the COVID-19 protocols.

Young played in Friday's 133-115 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Atlanta was scheduled to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, but Wojnarowski reported the game was postponed because Cleveland did not have enough available players.

Wojnarowski noted Jarrett Allen and four other Cavaliers entered the league's health and safety protocols.

The 23-year-old Young tweeted Saturday that he hoped people stayed healthy amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak as the omicron variant spreads and makes headlines across the world:         

I hope everybody stays healthy 🙏🏽

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) December 18, 2021

He also tweeted following Sunday's news:

Stay safe🙄🤦🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️😷 pic.twitter.com/0cBfsg0CaW

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) December 19, 2021

Young has appeared in all 29 of Atlanta's games this season and is averaging 27.3 points, 9.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals a night while shooting 46.0 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three-point range.

He is a major reason the Hawks reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season and were seen as contenders coming into the 2021-22 campaign. They are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in at 14-15, and they are just 2-5 in their past seven games.

If Young is sidelined, look for Delon Wright and Lou Williams to see more playing time in ball-handling roles in the backcourt.

In the sports world, COVID-19 concerns have once again risen to the forefront. The NFL moved multiple games in its Week 15 slate in an effort to have them contested, even with so many players on the league's COVID list. What's more, the NHL and NBA have postponed multiple games.

According to a tracker from James Herbert of CBS Sports, Young is the only player on the Hawks in health and safety protocols as of Sunday morning.