Young Silenced The Vulgar MSG Crowd
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
New York Knicks fans have been tortured the last eight years for what has happened not only on the court but of the court as well. The 2020-2021 season was not expected to be any different. Long time assistant coach Tom Thibideau was hired to change the culture of the team. The defensive minded coach had to instill his philosophy to a crew of young players. Something happened during the year as the team made statements and opened the eyes of the NBA landscape. Julius Randle became an All-Star. Derrick Rose showed skills and leadership coming off the bench. RJ Barrett played like the first round pick chosen number 3 in the 2019 draft. Immanuel Quickley established himself and justified getting picked 25th in last year’s draft. Fast forward to last Sunday night when the Knicks hosted the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden. The two teams played each other 3 times during the regular season with New York winning all 3. It would be a different Sunday night as Trae Young showed why he is one of the most talented guards in the NBA.
Atlanta showed right from the start that the regular season did not matter as they took an eight-point lead after (24-16) at the end of the first quarter. New York made adjustments closing the gap to 2-points (52-50) by halftime. While Randle struggled with only 7 points, Young thrived with 11 points and 6 assists. The third quarter saw the Knicks take their first lead since 5-4 in the first quarter when they went ahead 56-55 after a Bullock short jumper. New York finished the quarter taking a 2-point lead 73-71 going into the final quarter.
Neither team’s lead would extend to more than 4 points in the last quarter. Tied at 105, Young would hit a short jumper leaving only 0.9 left on the clock, silencing the raucous crowd who chanted expletives at Young all night. Randle’s desperation shot fell short as Atlanta took game 1 107-105. Young led all scorers with 32 points. “I had to go make a play,” Young told reporters. “I told my team in the huddle I would just going to make a play.” Hawks head coach Nate McMillan talked about the strategy used to contain Randle. “I thought we just tried to stay in front of him, don’t foul him, make him shoot over the top. He’s had such a great season, He’s been just dominant in our first three [regular-season] games. We just needed to stay in front of him and not allow him any space to attack us.”
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
Game 2 was played last night with the Knicks hoping to tie the season before the series moves to Atlanta. Said Thibideau of Randle, “he’s seen that defense before and needs to bring energy and play the way he had all season in being nominated for the league’s most improved player award. We trust him. He can score a lot of different ways. He can also beat you with the pass.”
Not only will the Knicks need to get Randle untracked, they need to contain Young and show the defense that solidified the number 4 seed allowing them to host the first round of the playoffs.
