Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young is Thriving in the 4th Quarter

Young had his chance at his first shining moment blocked away by Tyson Chandler on Sunday, but the 20-year old not only was competent enough to have the ball in his hands, he blew past Brandon Ingram and got off a good look that looked on track to go in.

On the final play of the game, Young was matched up against Ingram, who is considered a good-to-great defender, which is asking a lot from a 20-year old rookie point guard. Young took this situation in stride, never second-guessed his ability to get past his defender, and performed a beautiful hesitation-to-crossover to the underhanded floater that has been money for him all year. If the cagey veteran Chandler was a couple centimeters shorter, that floater would have won the Hawks the game.

He’s already had a game-winning shot from the logo in the preseason versus the Spurs, and with the trust Lloyd Pierce has had in him running the offense in crucial drives, he’ll likely get more chances to cash in for a game winner later on this year.

Buzzer-beaters aside, Young has been rock solid in the most important quarter of pro ball. He’s shown ability to score from literally anywhere this side of the half court stripe, and for a cherry on top, is 9th in the league in assists per game, and 3rd in the league in 4th-quarter assists.

It is time for Hawks fans to start getting very excited for Trae Young. He’s quickly brushed past the off-season “bust” whispers, and established himself as not only one of the best rookies in the league, probably the best player on the team, especially in the fourth quarter.

If you can’t tune in to watch the whole Hawks game, make sure to at least watch the 4th quarter, Trae Young will make it well worth your while.