Hawks’ Trae Young come close to ending the Knicks’ hopes of playing skinny, starting where they left off at Madison Square Garden

Tra Young Stuck in COVID-19 health and safety protocols when he was hawks game nicks in New York on Christmas Day, making Tuesday’s game Young’s first game at Madison Square Garden since he set the Knicks on fire in the first round of the playoffs last season.

After averaging 29 points and fewer than 10 assists in that first-round streak, including a 36-point display in the Game 5 playoff in New York, Young returned to MSG with fanfare on Tuesday with 45 points in Atlanta’s 117-111 win. It all decided the Knicks’ fate as a lottery team.

With the loss, the Knicks are now six games back to Atlanta in last place with 10 games. The Knicks have a tiebreak over Atlanta with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage, but that pleases few. The Knicks needed to win this showdown, which would have cut the gap between New York and Atlanta to four, to get any shot at the last minute. At this point, swinging between two games is too much. The Knicks are almost certainly headed to the lottery.

After picking up two Finals wins last season, the Atlanta haven’t fared much better than the Knicks this year, but it looks like they’ll at least get a chance to play their way onto the field and see if they can’t get hot. Nothing is impossible when you have Young, one of the big stage’s most flammable players, by your side. Young hit 13 of 25 shots Tuesday, including seven of his 15 attempts from behind the arc, and it’s perfectly baked. Gibson’s crown For the last bucket of the night.

After the victory, Young gleefully beat up a crowd of people in New York, with whom he developed a completely sinister relationship.

45 is the highest for Young in MSG, and it is Tied over by Hawks player in MSG with Dominic Wilkins, who had 45 points in New York in 1988. Young has now gone on to get 45 or more points in three of his last five games. With 10 matches to play, Atlanta is one loss in number 9 Hornets And two losses from number 8 Networkswho are still playing again.