Aussies Abroad: Daniels spoils Trae Young’s return

Gun defender Dyson Daniels has helped spoil Trae Young’s return to play against the Atlanta Hawks.

It was the Hawks’ first home game against their former kingpin since four-time All-Star Young was traded to Washington in January after seven years in Atlanta.

And the Hawks came out on top in a 139-132 win over the Wizards on Friday night.

Australian Daniels spent much of the game defending point guard Young, who committed eight turnovers while also scoring 23 points and having 10 assists.

Daniels himself grabbed 13 points and provided 12 assists, nine rebounds and two steals in a strong contribution as the Hawks opened their NBA Cup campaign with a win and improved to a 6-4 season record while the Wizards fell to 4-5.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 28 points for the hosts, Lu Dort added 25, Onyeka Okongwu had 22 points and Aaron Wiggins scored 19 off the bench.

Kyshawn George scored 33 points for the Wizards, who were without centre Anthony Davis (ankle). Tre Johnson had 23 points, including five 3-pointers.

The Hawks pushed the pace the entire game, and their 139 points were a season-high.

LeBron James also had a tough night on the road against one of his former teams as Cleveland downed NBA-leading Philadelphia 119-95.

A Cavaliers franchise icon, 41-year-old James was held to eight points and seven rebounds while committing six turnovers in his 32 minutes on court for the 76ers.

James, who elected to sign with Philadelphia in the offseason instead of returning to Cleveland, scored in single digits for only the 10th time in 1630 NBA regular-season games.

The Akron, Ohio, native spent 11 seasons over two stints with the Cavaliers and led them to their only championship in 2016.

“We didn’t look like much offensively,” said James. “We had a couple spurts, but too many turnovers on my behalf.”

Donovan Mitchell had 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Evan Mobley scored 22 points for the Cavaliers, who improved to 5-4 while the 76ers copped just their second loss in 10 games this season.

James’ previous team Los Angeles (8-2) continued their good start as they edged out fellow high flyers Portland 124-118 as Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic posted a whopping 53 points for the Lakers and Austin Reaves added 25.

It was Doncic’s 11th career 50-point game and his fourth with the Lakers.

Australian Olympian Matisse Thybulle shared in the home win over his former Portland teammates, having been signed by Los Angeles in the off-season to add defensive starch.

He started the game and finished with three steals and two points in his 23 minutes.

Deni Avdija had 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Damian Lillard scored 22 points for the Blazers, who lost for only the second time this season.

Elsewhere there were wins for Toronto, Boston, Minnesota, Dallas, Oklahoma City and San Antonio.