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Trae Young led hungry Hawks to thwart Hornets, who are eliminated and bitter

The Atlanta Hawks proved they are more than ready to fight until the end for a spot in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs by defeating the Charlotte Hornets 132-103 and eliminating them in the second day of the NBA Play-In Tournament on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena.

From the start of the game, the Hawks, who made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, showed the experience in defining games that the young Hornets, who looked erratic and outmatched by their surroundings, lacked.

Atlanta showcased Charlotte's inexperience

Unlike most of the season, the key for Atlanta was heavy defensive pressure on Charlotte's star players, a team owned by the legendary Michael Jordan.

Although the Hawks' star player, Trae Young, was the team's leading scorer with 24 points, the reality is that the key to the victory was the distribution of the offensive load, with six players of the local team scoring in double digits.

In addition to Young, De'Andre Hunter (22 points), Danilo Gallinari (18 points), Clint Capela (15 points), Kevin Huerter (13 points) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (13 points) contributed evenly on a team that shot 52.2% from the field.

Miles Bridges, frustrated, assaulted a fan

On the other hand, it was a nightmare for Charlotte who only hit 37.8% of their attempts at the rim, the best scorer was LaMelo Ball with 26 points but only seven of 25 successful shots.

The most frustrating night was for Miles Bridges, who not only lost the game and only scored 12 points, but was also ejected for a double technical foul in the fourth period for angrily arguing a referee's decision, and on his way out he threw his mouth guard at a fan and hurt a woman who was sitting near the incident.

What's next for the Hawks?

After this result, the Hawks will have to visit the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost last Tuesday to the Brooklyn Nets, next Friday, the winner of this game will be the eighth classified in the Eastern Conference and will face the Miami Heat in the first round playoff series.

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