Trae Young lead the Atlanta Hawks in a Game 1 win over the 76ers, with the Hawks’ supporting cast chipping in during crucial moments of the game.
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Trae Young has been nothing but sensational in his 2021 NBA Playoffs debut. In his first series against the New York Knicks, the 22-year old averaged 29.2 PPG, 9.8 APG, and 2.8 RPG defeating the Knicks 3-1.
The Eastern Conference semi-finals saw the Atlanta Hawks face the 1st seed Philadelphia 76ers, who boasts great talents such as Joel Embiid one of the top MVP candidates this year, and an elite defender in Ben Simmons.
The Hawks supporting cast steps up amid 76ers attempt to trap Trae Young
The 2020 NBA All-Star decimated the 76ers’ defense, putting up 25-points in the first half itself. The 3x NBA champion Danny Green, who despite being a great defender could not keep up with the lethal offense of Trae Young.
The second half of the game saw the 76ers switch their defensive strategy by employing a double team of Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons on the 22-year old Trae Young. As a result of this, John Collins and Clint Capela would relatively be left empty, allowing them to capitalize.
The Hawks shot 7-for-11 during the 15-times that Young was trapped by multiple defenders of the 76ers.
The change in strategy forced Young to make contested shots, limiting him to a mere 10-points in the second half of the game. Despite this, the Hawks were a magnificent 51.2% from the field and 42.6% from the 3-point line by the end of the game.
The head coach of the Philadephia 76ers, Doc rivers was quoted saying: “ Danny has been pretty good on small guards all year, but Trae is not just a small guard, He’s a terrific guard. Everyone had their chance.”
The aggressive defense adopted by the 76ers led to some close moments in the match, especially during the clutch moments. However, when the match came down to the wire Bogdan Bogdanović, shot a clutch 3-pointer silencing the crowd at the Fargo center that resulted in a 128-124 win for the Atlanta Hawks.
