Young, Hunter lead Hawks to 132-103 play-in rout of Hornets

Updated Apr. 13, 2022 9:48 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) —

The Hawks, who finished ninth in the East after a surprising run to the conference final a year ago, will travel to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Friday night.

The winner claims the No. 8 seed in the East and will face the top-seeded Miami Heat in the opening round of the playoffs.

The season is over for the Hornets, who were overwhelmed in the 9-10 play-in game for the second year in a row and haven't made the playoffs since 2016.

All five Atlanta starters scored in double figures, as did Bogdan Bogdanovic off the bench.

Hunter finished with 22 points, while

The Hornets closed the regular season strong and felt like they had a good chance to win a couple of play-in games on the road. But those hopes came crashing down against their I-85 rival.

LaMelo Ball led with 26 points but made only 7 of 25 shots.

The Hawks led by as many as 13 in the first half before settling for a 60-52 advantage at the break. Charlotte had a bit of momentum in the closing minutes of the half, but it sure didn’t carry over to the third.

The Hawks outscored the Hornets 42-24 during that 12-minute barrage, hitting 16 of 24 shots, and led 102-76 heading to the final period.

With the Hornets doubling at every opportunity, Young made only 1 of 9 shots in the opening quarter and 3 of 13 in the first half.

But his teammates found plenty of open looks and made the Hornets pay dearly.

Charlotte should've known what kind of night it would be on their way to State Farm Arena.

The Hornets' chartered bus was

It didn't get much better once the game tipped off.

The Hornets' frustration boiled over with about 6 1/2 minutes to go when

TIP INS

Hornets: Terry Rozier had 21 points. .... As a team, Charlotte shot 37.8% (37 of 90) from the field.

Hawks: F John Collins (sprained foot, sprained finger) has stepped up workouts but still wasn't able to play. His hasn't been in a game since March 11. ... G Lou Williams also was inactive with lower back discomfort.

UP NEXT

The Hawks went 3-1 against the Cavaliers during the regular season, splitting the two games in Cleveland.

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