Top Takeaways from Trae Young, Hawks vs. RJ Barrett, Knicks
On Tuesday night, Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young made a statement. He dropped 45 points and eight assists against the New York Knicks in what might wind up being a play-in-clinching performance.
With the 2021-22 NBA season winding down, every game matters for teams on the edge of the play-in bubble. That's precisely where the Hawks and Knicks find themselves after 72 games. With Tuesday's win, Atlanta climbed to 36-36 and built a six-game lead over New York for 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.
Playing without Julius Randle (quad), the Knicks battled back in the third quarter and carried an 89-87 lead into the final period. However, Young and the Hawks took over in the fourth. Despite a valiant effort from RJ Barrett (30 points, 13 rebounds), the Knicks faded late and watched their playoff hopes take a massive hit.
Here are some key takeaways from Atlanta's 117-111 win over New York.
Young Can Carry Atlanta to the Postseason
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No one needed this game to know that Young is a star. No one needed this game to know that Young has a knack for creating animosity at Madison Square Garden
While Atlanta came in with three straight losses to New York, the Hawks dominated the Knicks in last year's playoffs—and Young drew the ire of the Knicks faithful in the process. He was again vocal during Tuesday night's win in New York.
"Hold that L," Young told a heckler late in the game (h/t Roy Wood Jr. of The Daily Show).
Tuesday's performance, though, was a reminder that Young is special enough to carry the Hawks into the play-in tournament and quite possibly beyond. He got plenty of help from Bogdan Bogdanovic, who scored 32 off the bench, but Young was the centerpiece, and New York knew it.
The problem was that New York couldn't find an answer. With fast play, clutch shots and plenty of nifty ball-handling, Young sliced through the Knicks defense for the majority of the evening.
"Someone who has the ball all game is gonna score, that's a given. But definitely, he shouldn't have had 45 or whatever he had," Barrett told SNY.
When Young heats up, he's capable of taking over a game as well as anyone in the league. That will be a problem for opponents down the stretch and in the playoffs, where the Hawks appear to be almost certainly headed.
The Knicks Need to Put More into Developing Obi Toppin
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Mathematically, the Knicks aren't out of the playoff picture just yet, though coach Tom Thibodeau noted that they're running out of chances.
"The position we're in, they're all must-have games," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. "So that's it. But you're not eliminated until you're eliminated so keep fighting."
As a practical matter, New York is eyeing the offseason, and it should use the remaining time to further develop 2020 eighth overall draft pick Obi Toppin.
One could argue that New York would have won with Randle in the lineup. However, injuries are part of the NBA, and the best squads are capable of overcoming short-term absences. Because Randle is usually in the starting lineup, though, Toppin hasn't gotten a ton of playing time.
Toppin, who has averaged 14.9 minutes, stepped in for Randle on Tuesday but was pulled late in the game as Thibodeau went with the more seasoned Taj Gibson—though, to be fair, Toppin did have five fouls.
"It was really the way the game was flowing," Thibodeau said, per SNY's Ian Begley. "That group that started the fourth, had a pretty good run going. And then Taj, it’s his experience, his defense."
Toppin finished with an underwhelming 10 points and seven rebounds. That's not what is expected of a high first-round pick, and the Knicks need to do a better job of developing Toppin into more than just a splashy dunker and occasional contributor. They need him to be a reliable starter when the situation calls for it, as it did on Tuesday.
