Young Impacted the Game Despite Poor Numbers
Atlanta’s franchise guard finished the home opener Wednesday with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists off of 3 of 12 shooting. In addition, to a poor shooting night, he committed five turnovers which fortunately didn’t come back to haunt the young Hawks team.
A lot of people may say numbers never lie which is true to an extent, but Young helped his team win despite his poor shooting night. One player that comes to mind who impacted the game no matter how bad he shot was Kobe Bryant. By no means is Young the Black Mamba but he has the same competitive nature and supreme confidence that Bryant perpetually possessed.
Throughout the game, the 20-year-old struggled to gather a rhythm because of foul trouble. However, that did not deter him from hoisting up more shoots. One thing that is apparent about the Atlanta Hawks starting point guard is that he can heat up at any moment.
Doncic started the game off with 12 points and didn’t sink his next shot until the third quarter. At the time the Mavs were up, which provided some cushion for Doncic’s lack of shot-making. But the reality is that he disappeared when his team needed him in crunch time.
Although the numbers point to Doncic having a slightly better game overall, a lot of his points were scored in the third quarter with the exception of four points in the fourth quarter. The Atlanta Hawks matchup against the Mavs showed that Young has the clutch gene and can erupt at any moment or take the last shot no matter what his shooting percentage is for the night.
Players who develop a short-term memory when shooting always tend to come through in the clutch (Paul Pierce, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Larry Bird, Steve Nash and Bryant) to name a few.
While it will certainly be a while before Ice Trae matches those legendary ballers, the game against the Mavs was a good first step in Young’s legend.