The Magic showed up in Atlanta last night, chest bulging since Paolo Banchero and his friends were on 6 consecutive victories. Unfortunately for the Orlando buddies, Trae Young has been there: 37 points and 13 assists later, the Florida franchise’s winning streak is over.
He is annoying, how annoying is he.
And pretty much, the Magic could have made the comeback of the year by extending their winning streak.
Indeed, if Trae Young was smiling in the post-game interview thanks to this victory, it is an understatement to say if the stress was still seen on the face of the All-Star leader. It must be said that Atlanta had done absolutely everything to crack at the finish, Nate McMillan’s men conceding a terrible 13-0 in the last 3 minutes of the match to be led by one point.
Markelle Fultz, impeccable on Monday evening, gave his team the advantage on a well-negotiated lay-up, and Orlando already saw himself as the winner.
It was without counting on Dejounte Murray, calm and concentrated in the throws, which gave a definitive advantage to his people on a sad fault of his best friend… Paolo Banchero. Since it seems to be the sporting theme at the moment, a long match of more than 2 hours ended in a sniping session. Unfortunately for the Magic, Banchero’s last attempt ricocheted off the hoop, victory for the Hawks 126 to 125.
But if he struggled at the very end of the game, Trae Young was sensational the rest of the game.
Deploying all his offensive arsenal to punish his defenders and put his teammates forward, it was the Trae of the 2021 Playoffs who was on the pitch tonight.
TRAE YOUNG WITH A LOGO THREE AND STARES DOWN MOE WAGNER! pic.twitter.com/9HlTOdKdeI
— HawksMuse (@HawksMuse) December 20, 2022
Needed every one of those 37 points. @TheTraeYoung | @laurenjbara pic.twitter.com/h2KPbTO8lt
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) December 20, 2022
It should be remembered that Young had somewhat missed his match a week ago, against Orlando precisely, the effectiveness of the little one not being there (6/15 in shooting including 1/5 at three- points). Suffice to say that with the arrival of the Magic in town, in possession of this series of victories, and with the duo Dejounte Murray – John Collins back in the rotation, the level of motivation was very high for Ice Trae.
37 points at 11/22 shooting including 3/7 three-pointers, with 13 bonus passes and magic in their fingers.
It’s another series that was asked to lay down its arms in Atlanta, after the Bucks and the Kings who also passed through the StateFarm Arena and left empty-handed.
A victory which, if not convincing, is good for the Hawks because their month of December was not extraordinary, far from it. Affected by injuries, at odds within the group, the boys from Georgia must recover and this necessarily involves their leader, who can evolve at this level night after night.
While waiting for the next breathless episode of Atlanta, which will win at the finish as has already been the case several times this season…