For another chapter of their intense rivalry, Trae Young has prevailed to lead the Atlanta Hawks over the New York Knicks in the quarterfinal round of this season’s NBA Cup. And in what must be an expected gesture from the public enemy No. 1 of the entire New York fanbase, Young capped off the massive win en route to Vegas with an intriguing celebration.
Young, who dropped 22 points and 11 assists to will the Hawks’ victory, was spotted trolling the Knicks in the Madison Square Garden midcourt during the remaining seconds of the game as if he was already playing in Vegas by pretending to roll a dice.
This viral act has already spread across the internet and didn’t sit well for most of the New York fans. As such for Jalen Brunson, he and the Knicks can only live up to the result of their disappointing loss which led to Young’s mini antics.
“We should win the game if we don’t want him to do that,” Brunson plainly said in the postgame of the Knicks’ 108-100 loss.
It’s a respectable answer coming from Brunson as he and the Knicks simply couldn’t get the job done down the stretch.
Leading by as much as 12, the Knicks enjoyed the momentum early in the game until the Hawks came out firing in the second half. Led by Young, Atlanta bursted for 34-18 third-quarter points which was highlighted by an 11-0 scoring blitz.
Atlanta never turned back for the rest of the game, capitalizing on New York’s icy touch from beyond the arc (11-of-42) while dominating the glass with 22 offensive boards.
Brunson shoulders a significant burden of responsibility on the Knicks’ NBA Cup loss, being completely outplayed by Young on their point guard battle after dropping 14 points in a horrendous 5-of-15 shooting across 36 minutes.
Now eliminated from the NBA Cup contention, Brunson and the Knicks will settle to play against the Magic in Orlando on Sunday.
On the other hand, the Hawks are Vegas-bound in which they’ll play the determined Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks for the semifinal round of the tournament championship.
As another spicy encounter is now in the books, time is the ultimate truth teller on when Brunson and the Knicks will go for a competitive face-off again with the Young-led Hawks. Both teams are slated for two more regular season matchups this 2024-25, and we can only look forward to what would be the next interesting development between them.
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