1. Trae’s Dominance
Easily the Hawks’ best player, I try not to highlight Trae Young for every series of takeaways. He really could lead off every one.
I couldn’t not write about Trae tonight however, as he played probably his best game of his season – maybe of his career.
For certain stretches the young guard looking legitimately unstoppable against the Rockets’ admittedly so-so defense.
Like many teams throughout the season, Houston figured they needed to start doubling Young, but Trae looked unphased by a barrage of defenders.
Oh that's ICY ❄️ pic.twitter.com/IMHIFx1RbU
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 9, 2020
Trae’s court vision seems to get even better whilst being double-teamed, and his constant ability to find open men is turned up to 11. He record just 10 assists, but was setting up teammates all night, and all season.
He wasn’t great shooting the ball, and attempted a season-high 30 shots from the field, just two nights after taking a season-low 12 (in games wherein he didn’t leave with injury). He made 11 of those 30 shots, including going 4 of 11 from deep.
The 13 boards set a new career high, surpassing his previous total of 10 by a nice handful. Most were lucky bounces, but Trae did make a couple nice leaping snags.
It the exactly the performance the Hawks needed to even be in this game, and one that will certainly help Trae’s growing All-Star potential.