TRAE Young has long been dubbed the second coming of Steph Curry, one of the NBA’s greatest shooters, and against the Cleveland Cavaliers he showed why.
Young scored 35 points with 11 assists — the best line for a first-year player since Steph Curry in 2010 — as the Hawks rolled to an easy 133-111 win over Cleveland, which lost its home opener and fell to 0-3 as it readjusts to life without LeBron James.
The 20-year-old point guard was taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft but was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the third pick in Luka Doncic.
But in the early going of the 2018/19 season, it’s Young who has stolen the limelight after matching some of the biggest names in the game with his blazing performance.
Young was also unaware he matched Curry, who twice scored at least 35 with 10 assists in his first season with Golden State. And just three games into the season, Young has 79 more chances to do it again.
“Now that we know what he’s capable of we’ll be expecting a little bit more,” Bazemore joked.
Trae Young is the 5th rookie with at least 35 points and 10 assists in a game over the last 25 seasons, joining Steph Curry, LeBron James, Allen Iverson and Jason Kidd. pic.twitter.com/7NDgH6rH2l
The Hawks made a team record 22 3-pointers, including 10 while scoring 41 in the fourth quarter, to blow open the game and send Cleveland fans home early with many shaking their heads on the way out.
“We didn’t expect to be 0-3,” said Love, who was asked if he was alarmed by the performance.
“On opening night at home, we expect to play better in front of our own fans. I don’t know if alarming is the right word, but it sure seems right, right now. Our effort level just wasn’t there. It’s just going to be a growth year for us. We’ve got to get better.”
While wearing neon green sneakers, Young showed plenty of flash in his game.
He made 6 of 7 shots and scored 18 in the second quarter, helping the Hawks erase a 15-point lead and go up 64-60 at halftime.
35 PTS. 11 ASTS. ?
Trae Young put on a show in the @ATLHawks victory! #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/mmn1GP2FI5
“Trae is fearless,” Bazemore said.
“Even in the practices earlier in the summer he came in and established himself right away. That’s what you have to respect. A young guy that comes in, he’s not bashful, he’s not shy and who has that kind of caliber talent, he’s going to have ups and downs. I’m proud of him as a teammate.”
Trae Young had 35 points with 11 assists – the best line for an NBA rookie in eight years!
The cool thing about Trae Young is he’s gonna be the most unstoppable player on the floor or the worst player on the floor and never anywhere in between
SUSPENSIONS HANDED OUT FROM BRAWL
Lakers teammates Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul of the Rockets were suspended without pay Sunday for an on-court fight, with Paul taking the heaviest financial hit.
Ingram was suspended four games, Rondo will sit out three games and Paul two games. The NBA handed down the punishments a day after the incident in the fourth quarter at Staples Center.
The combined salary loss of the three players due to the bans amounts to $US836,805 ($A1,175,880).
Houston coach Mike D’Antoni disagreed with the severity of Paul’s penalty. “It’s just not equitable,” he said.
The ugly scenes occurred during the final quarter of Sunday’s clash.Source:AP
“If you wanted to suspend him one (game) I get it, just to make a statement. Then you’re talking monetarily, he’s paying three times more than the other guys are paying for missing games? That doesn’t seem to be right.”
Ingram and Rondo will start their suspensions Monday night when the Lakers host the San Antonio Spurs.
The league said Ingram was suspended for aggressively escalating the altercation and throwing a punch in the direction of Paul, confronting referee Jason Phillips in a hostile manner, and instigating the overall incident by shoving Rockets guard James Harden.
— with AP
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