East Notes: Hawks, Dejounte Murray, Pacers, Bulls

Hawks

The Hawks lost star guard Trae Young for at least a month to a hand/finger injury, but they didn’t let that keep them from walloping the Magic on Sunday.

Guard Dejounte Murray led the way with 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and he suggested Atlanta just has to come together without Murray.

“We don’t have any excuses. This is the NBA,” Murray told reporters. “Obviously, we want him to get back as soon as he can. But while he’s out, next man up. That’s it. There’s opportunities for guys to show why they are in the NBA.”

• The 92 points surrendered by the Hawks on Sunday was their lowest allowed of the season — and by seven points. “It was good to see,” coach Quin Snyder said. “We weren’t perfect, but there was definitely focus on the defensive end.”

Pacers

Coach Rick Carlisle spent 13 years with the Mavericks, winning a championship along the way. On Sunday, it was Carlisle’s Pacers who snapped the Mavs’ seven-game win streak.

Indiana has been getting it done a number of ways, mostly through the All-Star play of point guard Tyrese Haliburton. On Sunday, it was Myles Turner scoring a season-high 33 points.

“The whole game for us was about our edge, our competitiveness,” Carlisle told reporters. “We just wanted to stay aggressive and not look at the scoreboard, just play our game. You’re never going to have an easy game against a team like Dallas.”

• The Pacers (33-25 entering Monday night) sat in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They were just a half-game back of the 76ers for fifth. “We still have 24 games left to try to make some more hay,” Turner said.

Bulls

The Bulls learned they lost forward Patrick Williams for the season to a foot injury on Sunday … and then went out and beat the Pelicans on the road.

Of course, they already lost guard Zach LaVine for the year to his own foot injury. So the hits just keep on coming. But Chicago is trying to make the best of it.

“It’s always easy when you have any type of adversity to fold, to make excuses, to give in, to pack it in, to whine, complain, you know,” guard DeMar DeRozan said. “You don’t hear that from none of us. We just try to figure it out the best way we can.”

• Center Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his 500th career double-double. “It’s a nice achievement for sure,” he said. “It speaks about the work I put in and being consistent, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in, mainly because of the rebounding. As a big man, it’s a big part of our job.”