When a superstar like the Atlanta Hawks point guard brings young makes the decision to dominate, there is little anyone can do. The Cleveland Cavaliers found that out when they torched them for 32 points in the second half. We’ve seen Young put on some incredible performances this season.
He made his way into the history books by finishing the regular season as only the second person to finish as the leader in total points and total assists.
That hadn’t happened since Little Archibald in 1973. Young is also the only person in NBA history to end up averaging at least 28.0 points and 9.0 assists while shooting at least 38.0% from beyond the arc; a high staff for the fourth year guard.
And now he has led his team to the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Trae Young proved once again that he was made for the biggest stage.
His herculean effort in a 107-101 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers helped the Hawks advance to the first round of the NBA Playoffs and a series against the Miami Heat. But he was close to not being after he scored just six points in the first half. He also had four turnovers, usually a recipe for disaster.
He had zero in the second half as the Hawks outscored the Cavs 56-40 in the final 24 minutes.
Capela went down with what the team calls a hyperextended right knee after throwing Evan Mobley down on a foul.
He got off to another strong start with seven points and eight rebounds in just over 13 minutes.
His health is paramount to the Hawks’ postseason longevity, surprisingly, on offense. He posted the best offensive rating of his career (plus-2.8) this season, by Glass Cleaning. Reporting from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that there is initial optimism that Capela avoided something serious but that an MRI was needed to confirm it.
Still, as we saw once again, as long as Young is healthy, the Hawks have a chance.
His takeover began fairly late in the third quarter when he hit a 3-pointer in the first 18 seconds, but went more than two minutes without scoring a basket after that, scoring first on a technical free throw. Young then went more than seven minutes without scoring another point, but he was already cooking.
That’s because he had attended a kevin huerter three following his first mark, he dealt out three more dimes, in a row, following the mark on the technology, and then found Danilo Gallari for a three that gives Young a hand on 15 of the Hawks’ first 18 points after the break.
From then on, he would do most of the heavy lifting himself.
From the 2:00 mark to the end of the third quarter, Young scored 12 straight points for the Hawks, single-handedly outscoring the Cavs, who scored just eight points in that span while the point guard also had five assists.
The fourth quarter brought more of the same, literally, as Young scored 16 points in each frame of the second half.
After shooting just 27.3% in the first half, he shot 71.4% after the break.
It was such a commanding performance that caught the attention of Twitter of the 15-year NBA veteran, JJ Redickand NBA 2K content creator Kenny Beechum, who called the presentation a “master class” that Redick agreed with.
Miami will pose a difficult task for the Hawks. Especially if Capela, who McMillan said they’ll find out more about on Saturday, he can’t go.
The Hawks went 1-3 against Miami this season with the only win coming at home on Jan. 21. They lost the most recent matchup 113-109 after being outscored 35-26 in the third quarter.
Young had 35 points with eight assists in that game and averaged 25.5 points on 62.0% shooting with 7.3 assists against the Heat this season. However, they have made it work. He shot just 31.4% from deep against them this year and was average from deep against the Cavs, hitting just 4 of 11 attempts.
In the end, the Hawks took the victory and the right to play at least four more games. We know what happened the last time they had that opportunity.
Reference-soaringdownsouth.com