Trae Young stole the thunder of the Knicks first home playoff game since 2013 over the weekend when he hit a floater with 0.9 seconds to give Atlanta a 107-105 win. He then screamed at the crowd who had been heckling him all game long.
The third-year guard, who had 32 points and 10 assists, is now being called out by Bill de Blasio. The New York City mayor called out the point guard during his Tuesday press conference for “hunting fouls.”
“This is about basketball, I have an important official announcement, this is very important I want to get this out. Message to Trae Young, on behalf of the people of New York City and anyone that cares about playing basketball the right way,” de Blasio said with a smile.
“Stop hunting for fouls Trae. I want to quote Steve Nash, great player, great coach, he says ‘that’s not basketball’. Trae, Trae, that hawk’s not going to fly in New York City. C’mon. Play the game the right way, see if you can win. I think the Knicks are going to teach you a lesson.”
Young had nine free throw attempts in Game 1 and several of those came from plays in which Young was able to get his defender in the air and lean into them. This was not out of the norm for him as he averaged around the same amount for the regular season.
