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Something tells me Trae Young is going to do this a lot. Maybe not to the crowd at Madison Square Garden, but it was a sweet end to his NBA playoff debut. Young hit a floater with 0.9 seconds left to give the Atlanta Hawks a 107-105 win over the New York Knicks in Game 1 of their first round series on Sunday night. Young had hit two free throws to give the Hawks a 2-point lead before the play and then Derrick Rose answered before Young gave Atlanta the win. Check out the shot via Action Network.
TRAE YOUNG JUST SHUT MSG UP pic.twitter.com/jISP434XAG
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) May 24, 2021
Young finished with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists in his playoff debut for the Hawks, who entered as light underdogs on the road against MSG. The line before the game was Knicks -1.5, which doesn’t hit, though the Knicks had plenty of opportunities. Julius Randle did not have a great playoff debut for New York. He scored 15 points on an abysmal 6-for-24 from the floor.
Young’s post-game interview was even better than his shot. When he talked to the TNT team in the studio, Young said he was feeding off the “F*** you!” chants from the crowd at MSG. We can also point to the dappage from Spike Lee to Young before the game, which really is what sealed the fate for the Knicks. We knew this would happen. Young becomes Public Enemy No. 1 in New York tonight. Gotta love playoff hoops!
It wasn’t all Trae for the Hawks, credit needs to be given to guys like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Lou Williams and Clint Capela. Bogdanovic hit a huge 3-pointer to tie the game late in the fourth. Lou Will hit a few key jumpers in the final frame. Capela was a stalwart down low and played great defense all night.
If anyone deserves from credit for the Knicks being in the game so late it’s Alec Burks, who scored 27 points off the bench and hit some huge shots late in the game. Burks was 9 of 13 from the floor and hit three 3-pointers. Rose was strong off the bench as well. Outside of Randle and RJ Barrett, the Knicks had a pretty good showing in a tight game. You’ve got to just come back out in Game 2 and tie it up, hit restart.
The Knicks have a few days before Game 2, which is at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.