Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young’s 5 best games of the 2019-20 NBA season
By Jalen Eutsey
5. Hawks vs Knicks; February 9, 2020
Every superstar seems to have their “Madison Square Garden Moment,” where they come into the hallowed grounds of MSG and announce their presence to the basketball public with a full-throated display of their skill and style. But in the upside-down universe of the year 2020, things are not as they are meant to be.
Trae Young will have to wait for his MSG moment. What we all received instead was a double-overtime game between two of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, replete with everything you might expect—gaudy numbers, gaffes, and an inability to end the game in a timely fashion. On February 9, 2020, the Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks 140-135 in double-overtime in State Farm Arena.
Related Story. Hawks: 3 players not likely to return in 2020-21. light
Trae Young’s performance included an impressive 48 points and 13 assists to go with one rebound and seven turnovers. That about sums up the gameplay—there was a lot to be proud of and a lot you might want to forget if you were Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce. What was important for Young, however, was the way he closed out the game in double-overtime and made a number of clutch free throws throughout the contest.
He made a layup with about 2:20 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Hawks up 116-109. Later, Young made two free-throws to tie the game at 126 with just 7 seconds left in the first overtime. At the end of the second overtime, Young made two free throws to ice the game, putting the Hawks up 140-135. He scored 27 of his 48 points between the fourth quarter and the final overtime period.
Young was 13-of-30 from the field, 6-of-13 from three and a perfect 16-of-16 from the free throw line. As we go through this list, you’ll notice that drawing fouls and knocking down free throws are necessary for young to balance the basketball scales. Although it was only the lowly Knicks, playing their third game in four nights, it’s still encouraging to see the team’s best player and leader knock down clutch free throws to help secure a victory.