Today's game day NBA players scored high scores, including Trae Young. In today's Hawks' 124-116 victory over the Cavaliers, Young played 35 minutes and scored 41 points, 9 assists and 3 rebounds. At the beginning of this season, Yang did not perform well, and the eagles with folded wings did not have the dark horse of last season. Today, Yang and the Eagle are in the process of slowly climbing, and there is still a long way to go.
Yang set a series of records. With 4-of-7 three-pointers, Young's career three-point shooting increased to 652, surpassing Jason Terry (648) and rising to fourth on the Hawks' all-time three-point list, behind Muchch Brelock (1,050), Joe Johnson (908) and Korver (818). In addition, this game is also the 21st time in Young's career that he has scored 40+ points per game, ranking 7th among all players under the age of 24 in history, behind Rick Barry, Chamberlain, McAdoo, Jordan, James and Maddy. Yang's performance also impressed his opponents, and the knight Tanhua Mobley admitted that it was difficult to defend Yang without committing a foul.
However, at the beginning of this season, Young's performance was shocking. In October 2021, Young played in six games, averaging 22.3 points, 10 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game, shooting an overall of 42.9% and an outrageous 29% three-point shooting rate. At that time, many league scorers were stuck in the quagmire of adapting to new games or new rules, and Yang, whose average number of free throws per game had dropped sharply this season, could not escape.
Yang Kaiju's performance was a mess, and the eagle was like losing his soul. The dark horse, which just reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season, has only won 4 wins and 9 losses in the first 13 games of this season, and has suffered a wave of 6 consecutive losses. Fans and the industry can't figure out why the same team, the same squad and coach, after an offseason, is so unrecognizable.
If the Eagles want to reverse the decline, everything still depends on Yang. Hence his start-up against defending champion Bucks on Nov. 15. He scored 8-of-13 three-pointers, 42 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and led the Hawks to a 120-100 home game. Inspired by this, the Eagles played a wave of 7 consecutive wins, and the difficulties of the opening season seemed to be alleviated.
Yang's performance in November 2021 also showed a trend of rapid improvement. As evidenced by the data, Yang played in 15 games in November, averaging 27.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, and the two shooting rates quickly rose to 47.9% and 42.3%, and November became Yang's only month so far in this season with a three-point shooting rate of more than 40%.
Yang is also constantly adjusting to the state. In December 2021, Yang significantly increased the number of shots, averaging 4.2 and 0.8 shots per game compared to the previous month, respectively, and although the two shooting percentages fell back (43.3%, 33.3%), Yang still handed over an average of 30.5 points, 10 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals in December with a high shot. It's just that his adjustment, reflected in the Eagles' record, is not good. In December, the Hawks were just 5-9 and only 4-7 in young's games.
The Hawks will not return to victory until late January this year, which is also in line with Young's performance. After a big ups and downs in the first few months of the season, Young has finally embarked on a steady rise after the calendar has been turned to 2022. Counting this game, Young averaged 29.3 points, 10 assists and 2.9 rebounds this month, shooting 49% and 39.3% from both fields, the highest overall shooting rate in a single month this season.
What Young said after the game, the Eagles should also listen carefully. He said there was one more game before All-Star Weekend, and after All-Star Weekend, it was necessary to be sober-minded and end the season strongly. After winning the game, the Hawks rose to 10th in the East Side and moved into the play-off zone. This gives them the opportunity and foreshadows the daunting task they still face. For the second consecutive season, the Eagles have to go through a difficult climb in the middle of the season. The difference is that last season relied on changing coaches in the middle, and this season it depends on the awakening of Yang and a group of players.
Looking back on Young's NBA career, it seems that every season he faces new challenges, and almost no player of his age has experienced as much as he has.
In the rookie season, Young once enjoyed the reputation of "Little Curry", and became a "lifelong enemy" because of the draft night trade and Doncic, Doncic took the lead, but Young caught up strongly in the second half of the season, allowing neutral fans to have more expectations for the future of this pair of old enemies; in the second season of his career, Doncic and Young were selected as All-Stars at the same time, but Doncic left Yang behind by leading the team into the playoffs, and Young began the second climb of his career.
Finally, in the third season, the situation of the two chasing after each other showed a new situation. Doncic led the team to the playoffs for the second consecutive year, but still stopped in the first round. At the same time, Yang, who lost the all-star this season, let the Eagles turn into a dark horse and ushered in a magnificent playoff journey. In the first round, Young responded strongly to the attack of New York fans "Fark Blowing Yang", bringing MSG the biggest impact since Reggie Miller performed the "throat cutting ceremony". In the second round, Yang 7 games pulled down the top 76ers in the East Side, planting a time bomb in Philadelphia, indirectly causing Embiid and Ben Simmons to break up. It wasn't until the Eastern Conference Finals that the Hawks lost to the later championship Bucks.
This season, Young and Doncic went through climbs at the same time. The Lone Ranger took the lead in January, playing the league's number one defensive efficiency in that period, and the record was also improved, and it was in mid-to-late January that the Hawks pulled out the second wave of the season's seven-game winning streak.
The story that belongs to Yang is always unfinished to be continued. (Supine Braces/Hairy)