Trae Young gets honest about Hawks’ loss to Knicks: ‘That s***’s on me’

The Atlanta Hawks squandered a fourth-quarter lead over the New York Knicks, falling 116-114 in the first of a four-game homestand.

Young finished with a season-high 17 assists, adding two steals and one rebound with just three turnovers. But he did not shoot the ball very well, going 4-for-12 from the floor and 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, finishing with a season-low 15 points.

He was asked what swung the game back in the Knicks’ favor and spoke candidly.

“They made made more shots than us. Trying to hedge out to Julius, I mean, Quickley hit a couple shots, and then they got to the line. And then I missed a free throw. … It’s just a lot easier to hit a dagger and hit a big shot whenever you’re up one than when it’s tied. So I gave him that feeling by missing that second free throw. So yeah, that s***’s on me.”

Young’s shooting slump extends far beyond just this one game with the sixth-year guard posting career-low efficiency marks to start the season.

He is shooting 35.6% from the floor and 27.8% from beyond the arc en route to 23.5 points per game this season. And while his 23.5 points per game are only the third-fewest of his career, he is being aided by the second-most free-throw attempts he’s had to start a season.

Even during the Hawks’ four-game winning streak, he shot 40.6% overall and 32% on threes.

The Knicks have now won three straight meetings against the Hawks and four of their last five head-to-heads.

Hawks lost to Knicks due to myriad of reasons

“I don’t think there was really just one big issue,” Young said of the Hawks’ biggest issue in the loss. “I think the offensive rebounding hurt us a couple moments, we didn’t box out and take the cutters, and they got some second-chance points that we allowed them to get, and yeah. I think if we’d have done that we’d have been a little bit better for sure.”

Atlanta shot better from the floor than New York and attempted 15 more free throws.

But there were also minus-8 in paint points, minus-12 on the boards, and minus-17 in second-chance points in this contest.

Additionally, Bogdan Bogdanovic was the only Hawks player to crack the 20-point mark in this contest, as Young’s co-star Dejounte Murray had an off night with just 13 points to go with five rebounds and two assists following his 32-point, 10-assist effort versus the Pistons.

The Hawks will be back in action on November 17 against the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be the Hawks’ second game of the In-Season Tournament and their third – against the Indiana Pacers – is after that. They won their first tilt, a 126-120 affair versus the Detroit Pistons.