Trae Young’s hilarious reaction to bizarre technical foul in Hawks’ win vs Celtics

Ironically enough, the game ended up being a one-point affair down the stretch, meaning that if Murray’s last-second jumper had missed, the Hawks would have had their sidelined point guard to blame for the L. Instead, Murray’s shot found the bottom of the net with just .1 left on the clock, effectively sealing the win for Atlanta.

A bizarre stretch for the Hawks

Are the Hawks better without Trae Young in the lineup? Of course not. Is that fact stopping that discussion from being a talking point in national NBA media circles? Of course not.

The partnership between Young and Murray has always been less than ideal. The Hawks’ front office traded for Murray in the summer of 2022 likely out of desperation after watching Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat consistently trap the small point guard for five brutal games in that series. In theory, the two guards should be able to supplement each other’s strengths and cover for each others’ weaknesses, but unfortunately, the game of basketball is played on the court and not in theory.

At this point, the best case for the Hawks’ season is that they continue their hot streak into the Play-In, win two games when they get there, and then have a relatively competitive loss vs the Celtics in the first round, which will convince the ownership to give the Young-Murray partnership one more year. Which will  get the team back to the same position next year.

In any case, it’s unclear at this point when Young is expected to return to the lineup as he rehabs from his finger surgery. The Hawks are next slated to take the floor once again at home on Saturday evening vs the Milwaukee Bucks.