Takeaways from the Hawks and Bulls quadruple-overtime classic

Kyle Irving and James McKern

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Takeaways from the Hawks and Bulls quadruple-overtime classic image

Well, nobody saw this coming. The 12th-placed Atlanta Hawks and 13th-placed Chicago Bulls played out the game of the year on Friday in a nailbiting quadruple-overtime classic.

Rookie Trae Young threw everything he had at the Bulls while Zach LaVine fought back with everything he had in his arsenal.

The result saw the teams combine to score the most points in an NBA game this season and the third-most in NBA history as the Bulls claimed the 168-161 win.

The best part about it? The next game on their schedules ... Hawks versus Bulls this Monday.

From the battle between the two guards to the explanation of how we got here, here are the key takeaways from the thrilling duel...

Trae Young's ROY case is legit

It seemed like a forgone conclusion that Luka Doncic was the Rookie of the Year, but Young is making it a genuine battle.

MORE: Trae Young is making a ROY case

Young ended the game with a ridiculous 49 points, 16 assists and seven rebounds. His efforts saw him set the franchise record for a rookie in scoring along with joining some of the game's biggest names.

It gives him three straight games of scoring 35-plus points and Young joins Michael Jordan, Bernard King and Allen Iverson as the only rookies to achieve the feat since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.

He also becomes the first rookie since Jordan to record three games with at least 35 points and 10 assists and the first rookie since Earl Monroe (1968) to record 49-plus points and 10-plus assists in a game.


The Hawks were down by as many as 11 points before they came storming back to life behind the stellar play of Young.

Zach LaVine is a star in the making

He's become famous for his high-flying antics, but LaVine can do it all and he showed off his array of weapons on Friday.

The Bulls guard ended the contest just shy of a remarkable triple-double as he registered a career-high 47 points to go with nine rebounds and nine assists.

LaVine had this rim-rattling dunk in 2OT...


And this clutch 3-pointer to tie the game with just under two minutes left in 3OT:


He eventually had the tying layup that would send the game into a fourth overtime.

LaVine was efficient in scoring his career-high, shooting 17-for-35 from the field and 6-for-14 from 3-point land to help lead his team to victory.

The game could have been over in regulation

When Trae Young knocked down this cold-blooded 3-pointer...


...it gave the Hawks a three-point lead with two seconds remaining  in regulation .

On the ensuing possession, Kent Bazemore fouled Otto Porter Jr. on a wild 3-point attempt with 0.4 seconds on the clock. Porter went to the free throw line and calmly buried all three attempts to send the game into overtime.

And ... well, you know the rest. Four overtimes later, the Bulls come away with a win in a game that could have been decided in regulation if not for the late foul.

Random stats from the game

This was the third-highest scoring game in NBA history with a combined 329 points.

The top two? The Detroit Pistons defeated the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 186-184 (combined 370 points) in a 3OT game in 1983. The next highest-scoring game was the San Antonio Spurs defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 171-166 (337 points) in a 3OT game in 1982.

Since the start of the 1992-93 season, there have been 33,533 games played. Two of them featured both teams scoring at least 150 points. Vince Carter has played in both of them !

168 points is the most points in a game in Chicago Bulls history .

This was the 15th quadruple (or more) overtime game in NBA history . Each of the last three have involved either Atlanta or Chicago,  per ESPN Stats and Info .

Kyle Irving and James McKern