NBA: Spurs drop 13th straight as Trae Young, Hawks prevail

Trae Young poured in a season-high 45 points and dished out 14 assists and Dejounte Murray added 24 points as the visiting Atlanta Hawks rallied for a 137-135 victory over the reeling San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.

The Spurs led by 15 points late in the first quarter and by four heading into the final period. The game was tied at 123 after two free throws by Jeremy Sochan with 3:33 to play before Atlanta, which snapped a two-game skid, took the lead for good on a pair from the charity stripe by Young 11 seconds later.

Devin Vassell and Murray traded 3-pointers, the latter with 1:34 remaining to give the Hawks a four-point advantage. Young added a bank shot and then canned another two free throws with 39 seconds on the clock to allow Atlanta to finish off the come-from-behind win.

Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14 points off the bench for the Hawks, with Saddiq Bey scoring 13 and De'Andre Hunter and Clint Capela tallying 12 each.

Jeremy Sochan scored a career-high 33 points for the Spurs, who have dropped 13 straight games and finished 1-13 in November. Vassell hit for 25, Keldon Johnson added 22 points and 11 rebounds and Victor Wembanyama racked up 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for San Antonio.

The Spurs opened the contest with a bang, streaking out to an 18-7 lead after a layup by Wembanyama at the 8:24 mark of the first quarter. Atlanta trimmed the deficit to six on a putback by Capela 3 1/2 minutes later before San Antonio settled for a 35-26 advantage at the end of the period.

The Hawks cut the margin to five points early in the second quarter and took a 45-44 lead on a finger-roll layup by Murray with 6:39 to play in the period. San Antonio responded with an 8-0 run capped by a fast-break dunk by Johnson to go back up by seven a minute later. Atlanta closed to within a point twice over the final 3:13 and trailed 66-62 at intermission.

Sochan's 15 points before halftime led all scorers while Johnson had 14 and Wembanyama added 12 for San Antonio. Young led the Hawks with 12 points in the half despite going just 4 of 13 from the floor. — Field Level Media/Reuters