While Tray Young led the Hawks attack with 24 points and 11 assists, Atlanta received top-down contributions to its roster as a total of six players scored double-digit wins. LaMelo Ball finished with 24 points for the Hornets, but, in a rather ineffective way, it took him 25 attempts to get there. Now, we’ll see which team can reach the top on Friday night when the Hawks and Cavaliers meet for the right to face the Miami Heat. Here are the three biggest takeaways from tonight’s game.
1. Trae Young is a defender
Trae Young shot 3 of 13 from the field in the first half. It was the kind of show that could not be understood through a box score. Although Yang’s shots were missing, the Hawks continued to score. They were 60 in the first half precisely because of the extra attention Charlotte gave to Young. They took him halfway and trapped him away from the screens, but because Young is such a dynamic passer and can shoot from so far behind the line, all these tactics did was open things up for his teammates. They delivered with a stellar half. So the Hornets relaxed a bit in the second, changing more screens. Young baked the poor big ones that Charlotte put on the floor to chase from there, this time defeating them both as a scorer and as a passer. The Hawks scored 132 points in the game and beat Young’s minutes with 27 points. This is the level that Young has gone up in big games. The Knicks, Bucks and Sixers saw it in last year’s playoffs. There is no defense you can use against him that does not consistently lead to a good attack for the Hawks. Drop and hit you with a floater after floater. Go down and it will go for logo 3. Play very aggressively and it will make free throws. Even Philadelphia, with Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle throwing him into more conventional defenses, could not stop him completely. This is the highest level of attack in the playoffs, intended only for the best basketball shooters. At a given time, there are usually only three or four basketball players who are resilient in this way. LeBron James and James Harden have been there for years. Stephen Curry may still be. Luka Doncic and Trae Young have reached this point now and should be there for a long time. If the Hawks can give Young the right teammates, there is no reason why they will not be able to score that way for years to come.
2. LaMelo LaBusts
A year ago, LaMelo Ball scored 4 of 14 in a loss to the Pacers. Tonight, he shot 7 of 25 in a loss to the Hawks. Now, this is a sample of two games. He does not care much about the big plan, and as the Hornets move on and occupy the roster around him, he will have many more great games to prove himself. It is too early to wonder about his ability in high leverage situations. But what we can say much more conclusively is that Ball lacks Young’s undoubted ability. He is not the kind of player who can look at any defense his opponent throws and immediately have a counter. This is an All-Star who has scored single digits 16 times in his two seasons in the NBA. Obviously not close to its heyday, but it’s not the only creator species that most teams tend to prefer outside of their stars. He is more of a flow player, a transitional killer who can operate in an attack, but has not yet figured out how to get it the way Young does. There is no reason to believe that it can not. He is just in his second season, finally, and while he is not the calm pick-and-roll operator that Young is, he shares Young’s incredible vision and shooting range. The pieces are there, but like his brother, he is an inconsistent midfielder and midfielder who prefers to keep the ball moving. This is fine in the regular season. It’s something he will have to work on for next season if he is to become the kind of player who can lead his team in a deep way. Select the checkbox to confirm that you want to sign up.
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3. Will the Hornets find a center?
At this point, we should all feel bad about James Borrego. This Ruby Goldberg has been making his way into semi-decent defenses for years with 6-7 centers and indifferent guards, and finally, this approach seems to have made its way. Mason Plumlee and Montrezl Harrell were the incredible center-backs this year, but for Borrego’s entire tenure the Hornets failed to give him a single adequate hoop protector. That killed them in this game as it did for most of the season. The Hawks had easy dribbling penetration for most of the first half and used it to chase the ball into the shooters. When the Hornets stayed home to these shooters in the second half, the Hawks got all the layups and dunk they wanted. This can be avoided with the right big man. It’s time for the Hornets to go out and find one.
