ATLANTA – Trae Young scored 30 points, and the surging Atlanta Hawks never trailed while beating the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 131-107 on Thursday night to clinch a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Cedi Osman led Cleveland with 21 points, and Darius Garland added 18 with eight assists while sitting out the final quarter of the blowout loss.
Cavaliers standout rookie Evan Mobley missed his second consecutive game with a sprained ankle. Cleveland has lost two straight games and five of its past six as it attempts to keep the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference standings with the regular season set to conclude April 10.
Young had nine assists as the Hawks’ fourth consecutive win clinched no worse than the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference and a berth in the play-in tournament ahead of the NBA playoffs. The Hawks began the night one-half game behind the Charlotte Hornets and one game behind the Brooklyn Nets.
Last season, the Hawks made a midseason turnaround after a coaching change to finish fifth in the standings and advance to the conference title round before losing in six games to the Milwaukee Bucks, who went on to win the NBA championship.