DALLAS _ Lubbock-born, Oklahoma-raised and educated Trae Young had about 20 family members and friends in attendance Wednesday night, from both sides of the Red River.
Of course, though, he knew better than to consider American Airlines Center anything other than Luka Doncic territory.
Young claimed to not have extra motivation, so perhaps it simply was coincidence that he and Doncic traded baskets and acrobatic highlight plays before the Mavericks _ after coach Rick Carlisle's ejection _ spurted ahead, then held on to beat Atlanta, 114-107, to increase their home winning streak to 11 games.
Doncic finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to Sooner-product Young's 24 points and 10 assists in a matchup, albeit not head-to-head, of Rookie of the Year contenders who were traded for one another on draft night.
Doncic, knocked down and whacked across the face by Kent Bazemore on the final play of the first half, received his November NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month trophy at halftime, as Young walked past, smiling.
On paper the Hawks (6-21) didn't figure to be much of a match for a Mavericks team that had beaten opponents by an average of 14.3 points during their run of home dominance.
Yet, Atlanta did rally from 26 points to beat Dallas in the season's fourth game, but the Hawks' season has gone south while the Mavericks haven't been beaten at home since a Nov. 2 loss to the Knicks.
The Mavericks trailed by as much as 63-57 in the third quarter and still were behind 63-60 when Carlisle drew back-to-back technical fouls for his forceful and continued arguing after he believed Barnes had been fouled.
Wednesday was the first of three consecutive Mavericks games against opponents that could have taken Doncic in the draft. Atlanta actually did select him No. 3 overall, but already had worked a trade for Dallas' first-round pick in 2019 and to move back to get No. 5 pick Young.
On Thursday in Phoenix they face the Suns and No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, a game that begins a stretch of 10 out of 13 games on the road for a Dallas team that is 2-9 away from AAC.
On Sunday the Mavericks will host Sacramento and No. 2 pick Marvin Bagley.
Doncic says he somewhat keeps up with how Young and other lottery picks are faring but, honestly, "I mostly watched EuroLeague (basketball) and soccer."
Young, conversely, says he watches a lot of other NBA games.
"I know a lot of real good players came out of my class, so I try to follow up on everybody, whether it's Luka, Deandre, all the top players in my class," he said.
His impressions of Doncic?
"He's been on the court for a long time. You can tell in his game, he's a very smart player and a really good player, obviously, what he's doing with the Mavs, doing great. He's been a professional for a long time, so it's good for him."
Young entered Wednesday game shooting 24.1-percent from 3-point range, but he made a pair of treys to open the second quarter, giving Atlanta a 32-28 lead.
