Withstanding the enormous pressure of "Falk Blowing Young", Trae Young once again conquered Madison Square Garden today, while also saving the Hawks' season. With his 45 points and eight assists, the Hawks beat the Knicks 117-111 on the road today. Today's Young, while looking up to his predecessor Reggie Miller, also let the Hawks basically lock in the play-off places.
Last season's Hawks were the dark horses of the East End and went all the way to the East Finals. But at that time, Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk poured cold water on the team, saying that he was satisfied to make the playoffs in 2021-22.
At that time, many people thought that Schlenk was pretending to be a big-tailed wolf, but they did not know that he was an uncertain prophet. In the first 13 games of the season, the Hawks only won 4 wins and 9 losses, and also suffered a wave of 6 consecutive losses. From the end of 2021 to the middle of January, the Eagles only won 6 wins and 16 losses, and the winning percentage fell below 50%. After another seven-game winning streak, the Hawks stumbled all the way from February until today. For a time, coaches Young, Capela and McMillan, who were well received last season, seem to have lost their magic.
After this win, the Hawks returned to 50% of the winning percentage and are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference, 5.5 wins ahead of the 11th-place Wizards in the Eastern Conference. With only 10 games left in the Hawks regular season, it's basically guaranteed to get play-off tickets.
A closer look at the Hawks' problem this season is that the offense is stronger, but the defense is worse. So far this season, the Hawks are no. 2 in the league in offensive efficiency and only 27th in defensive efficiency. Yang Kaiji was tested by the NBA's new rules and the new game ball, and passed a difficult adaptation period. In October 2021, Yang's three-point shooting rate fell to 29% at one point. So far this month, Yang has averaged 30.1 points, 10.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds, and his three-point shooting rate has reached 41.2%.
Capela has also regressed this season. He averaged 10.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game and shot 60.4 percent from the field. Last season, his efficiency was the second highest in his career, and this season he fell to no. 5 in his career, the third-lowest in his career with true shooting percentage, and the worst defensive efficiency of his career.
In short, in the venue with the deepest hostility to himself, Yang played a wonderful game, which made many senior New York fans think of the MSG public enemy Miller, creating his own image and bringing benefits to the team and retaining hope. Maybe this season's Young is not as shiny as last season, but his status among the new generation of players is undoubtedly certain. (Supine Braces/Hairy)