The Atlanta Hawks have taken their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks. There were questions about the Hawks, particularly surrounding their star point guard Trae Young and his ability to take the heat in the playoffs. Well, the problem for the Knicks, Young answered the call in a big way.
Young has been simply amazing. He has averaged 29.2 points, 9.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.6 steals in 36.4 minutes per game. He has been reasonably efficient as well, going at 44.1 percent from the floor, 34.1 percent from deep, and 91.9 percent from the line.
However, what Young did incredibly well throughout the series was to take on the villain role, especially when away at Madison Square Gardens. In his first playoff series, Young has led his team with a firm hand and as a result, the Hawks made light work of the Knicks.
The Atlanta Hawks have benefitted from Trae Young making history.
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What Young did in the away games of the series was carry the team. Other players struggled when they were not at State Farm Arena, Young simply feasted. He became the first visiting player in playoff history to score 30 or more points in their first three games at Madison Square Gardens.
Thinking of all the incredible players who have gone through the Gardens throughout their playoff history, and none of them have opened their accounts the way that Young has. In fact, there is only one other visiting player in playoff history who has three straight playoff games at the Knicks’ home venue where they have scored 30 points.
That player is none other than Michael Jordan. When your name is mentioned with arguably the greatest player of all time, you are doing something right. The fact that he did it during his debut playoff performance is incredible.
Now Young is focussing on the next challenge which is trying to take down the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers. He has shown that he is not afraid of a challenge, and will help provide a very entertaining series.