How Hawks' Trae Young made history at the free throw line in win vs. Hornets
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The Atlanta Hawks have found several ways to win in their last four games, and tonight was much different than the past three. In their game against the Philadelphia 76ers, they got the win without Trae Young, but in their latest win against Charlotte Hornets, they needed 21 free throws from him, which led to him making history.
Young went a perfect 21-21 from the free-throw line and is the sixth player in NBA history to go perfect from the free-throw line with 21 or more attempts in a single game. After the game, Young spoke about the 21 free throws and being able to come through at the line when the team needed him.
“It's what I do,” Young said. “I know how to score. If my shot's not going I know how to get to the line. It not only helps our team score, it also puts them in foul trouble and stuff like that, especially when guys are being as aggressive as they've been.
Trae Young posted his league-leading 39th PTS & AST double-double in the Hawks victory!
35 PTS (21-21 FTM)
12 AST
7 REBHe also became the 6th player in NBA history to record 21 FTM without a miss pic.twitter.com/pfMcLNdRUq
— NBA (@NBA) March 13, 2025
“It's something I've always been able to do. Free throws are free, so you have to be able to focus, knock them down, and I've been doing that a lot better recently.”
In their second win against the Indiana Pacers, Young missed a free throw on purpose to run the clock out. With the free throw miss, he broke a streak of 47 makes in a row, and was close to making history. But all that mattered in the moment was the win.
“Trae was in position to break a free throw record,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “It was a situation where the probability of us losing the game if he made it was incredibly low. That said, he hit a half-court shot this year, you never know what happens. So he missed that free throw, and that impacted his streak, but he started another one.”
Not only did he start a new streak, but the Hawks kept their winning streak going at four.
Trae Young drops 35 points in win vs. Hornets
Trae Young started the game slow, missing a few floaters at the rim, which is a routine shot for him. It was the third quarter where he exploded for 17 points, making nine free throws and getting some clean shots near the rim.
“The shots he was getting early, I thought he was taking good shots,” Snyder said. “He was turning down some of those shots in the second half and keeping his dribble alive and finding people. Trae doesn't define himself in those two situations, as far as shot-making and assists. He's good at both of them. But I think he puts a lot of pressure on the defense, and that's what you saw tonight. He was going by people, and a lot of times when somebody quick goes by you, there's opportunities to draw fouls and it's hard to stay in front of them.”
The Hawks have now won their fourth straight game, and they’re continuing to separate themselves from their competition in the Play-In race. With the chemistry building on the team, they’re finding ways to win, and they’re doing it at the right time.
“You look at the best teams in the league, they've all won in a different variety of ways throughout the season,” Young said. “That's part of being in the NBA and playing all these games, it's not going to be perfect every night. You have to figure on nights if you're an offensive team and your shots aren't falling, you gotta find a way to win. I don't think we're an offensive team, we're a defensive-minded team this year that can play offense. We gotta find a way to win and we've been doing that.”
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