Trae Young scored 32 of his 38 points in the second half as the Atlanta Hawks beat center Clint Capella with a knee injury to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-101 in the play-in Friday night to earn the Eastern Conference No. 8 playoff seed . ,
Young got off to a slow but "ice tray" for the second straight game. As he likes himself, he's hot when it matters most.
The All-Star guard scored 16 points in the third quarter to rally the Hawks from a 10-point halftime deficit, and added another 16 in the fourth to eliminate the Cavs, whose inexperience showed throughout the second half.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added 19 points for Atlanta, who will play No. 1 seed Miami in the first round. Game 1 is Sunday in South Florida.
The Hawks, who had made the conference finals a year earlier, may have to go ahead without Capella. The 6ft 10in center extended his right knee late in the first half, had to be helped off the floor and couldn't come back.
Laurie Markkanen scored 26 and Darius Garland 21 for the Young Cavaliers, whose unexpected season ended up shy of a playoff berth.
Cleveland hasn't been in the playoffs since 2018, and the Cavs haven't been to the postseason since 1998 without LeBron James on their roster.
As if to add insult to injury, James tweeted an ice cube emoji in the closing seconds—a nod to Young—as the Hawks were ending Cleveland's season.
Raised by a rowdy, towel-waving crowd at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, the Cavs were in a position to advance and played well in the long stretches. However, Cleveland's offense waned in the third quarter, and the Cavs had no answer defensively for Young.
As the final seconds closed, Young waved goodbye as the Cleveland crowd thinned and exited.
Who saluted the Cavs, who didn't expect to reach that far after winning just 22 games last season. While he has been relegated to lottery picks and losers since James left after a four-year run to the NBA Finals four years ago, the future in Cleveland is bright.
With the season underway, Cleveland received a huge emotional and defensive lift from the return of All-Star center Jarrett Allen, who had missed the last 19 games with a broken finger on his left hand. Allen finished with 11 points.
The Hawks were in big trouble at the end of the third quarter, when Young finally warmed up.
Ignoring some obscene chants by Cleveland fans, the dazzling guard scored a pair of three-pointers and scored Atlanta's final 12 points in the quarter as the Hawks made it to 84 with a 17-8 run in the final 3:48. -All closed to tie. In the last 12 minutes.
Markkanen scored four three-pointers and Cleveland held on to an 11-point lead after six shots from long range in the first 12 minutes.
Atlanta helped in some sloppy games and scored seven turnovers, four by Young.
But once he started handling the ball and hitting the shots, no one could stop him.
New Orleans Pelicans 105-101 Los Angeles Clippers
A franchise player out for the season. First year head coach. Beginning 1-12. The New Orleans Pelicans overcame it all and came back to make the playoffs.
Brandon Ingram scored 30 points and the Pelicans rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-101 in a play-in Friday night to earn the West's No. 8 seed.
"That win was big time," said Pelicans coach Willie Greene.
New Orleans took a 16-point lead in the first half and did not hold a decent lead until the last four-and-a-half minutes of the game.
"It was an emotional game, a ton of highs and lows," Green said. "But for us, our mindset is that we're going to keep fighting. We're not going to die."
The Pelicans made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18, guided by a former Clipper Green. He has been without Zion Williamson throughout the season due to a leg injury.
"Starting with 1-12 and 3-16, you're wondering when will it pick up speed?" Rookie Trey Murphy said. "Being my first year, I don't know what it's like to win. Look at us now."
CJ McCallum added 19 points and Larry Nance Jr.'s 14 points and 16 rebounds for New Orleans, who will play No. 1 seed Phoenix in the first round. Game 1 is in the desert on Sunday.
"This team is resilient," said Nance, who was traded from Portland to McCollum in February. "He started 1-12. It's so hard to pick yourself up. I've been through seasons like this, it's hard to keep trying and keep trying."
The Clippers suffered a major setback the day Paul George entered into the league's health and safety protocols. They were already without Kawhi Leonard the entire season while he rehabilitated an ACL injury. He watched from the bench at the start of the game.
Marcus Morris and Reggie Jackson each had 27 points for the Clippers.
The Pelicans shot 57% in the first half and were better on the board, in the paint, and off the bench. He led 16 in the second quarter, before the Clippers reduced their deficit to 56-46.
The Clippers outscored the Pelicans 38-18 to return in the third. He started with 20-2 runs, with the crowd on his feet. Jackson scored 10 points and Morris added six points to the bounce.
Robert Covington started in third place in place of seven-footer Ivica Zubac and her three-point play gave the Clippers a 75-62 lead, the biggest of their games.
Ingram scored five of the Pelicans' last 12 points to send them into the fourth trailing 84-74.
"Just believing in each other and staying connected," Green said of the Pelicans' mindset. "Knowing that we took his best shot and we're only going 10 down to fourth."
Then New Orleans staged one of its rally.
After going up 13 points by the Clippers, the Pelicans ran from 11 straight points and then McCullum hit a three-pointer to tie an 88-all.
Murphy hit his second three-pointer of the quarter at 94-all for another tie.
It scored a 10–0 run to give the Pelicans a 101–94 lead, capped by a three-pointer from Murphy who leapt over the rim and went inside. He was one of three crooks who contributed.
In the final 1:17, The Clippers closed within two, but they missed 2 of 4 free throws and Jackson and Morris missed the shot to see their season slip by.
The Clippers, who made it to the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history last year, were also missing Luke Kennard. The league's three-point percentage leader did not play due to a right hamstring pain that kept him out of the team's first play-in game Tuesday in a loss in Minnesota.