Trae Young Calls Out Magic After Hawks’ Blowout Loss

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Charles Negron | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 11:25 AM ET

It was a challenging evening for the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night in Orlando, Fla., as they faced their Southeast division rival Orlando Magic in the first round of the Play-In Tournament.

What was mostly a competitive matchup throughout most of the game into the third quarter, devolved rapidly with sloppy play from the Hawks and an uncharacteristic lack of composure.

Cole Anthony was a madman off the bench, leading the Magic in scoring with 26 points and 6 assists. He was a definitive factor in sparking a decisive run to close out the game.

The Magic also stepped up their defensive prowess in the fourth quarter, holding the Hawks to just 22 points. Trae Young was ejected after chucking the ball to one official in stoppage and then kicking the ball during the same sequence. He received back-to-back technicals with 8:12 left in the period.

The Magic secured their position into the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and are set to play the defending champion Boston Celtics on Easter Sunday at 3:30 p.m., in the first round of the Playoffs.

In the post-game presser, Young expressed some insight into his frustration with what he saw as an uneven whistle on both ends of the court Tuesday night.

"They're a physical team. I've had two teammates hurt this year in one game against them," Young said. "I'm not going to call them dirty players or anything like that. I think they have a lot of talented players. But a lot of the plays and the moments ... it's not even necessarily basketball at that point. I think that's where the frustration got."

Trae Young has been EJECTED from the Hawks-Magic play-in game after picking up two technical fouls pic.twitter.com/k60YXYTJEv
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 16, 2025

The Magic have imposed a physicality all season long on the defensive side of the ball, disrupting opponent’s rhythms and limiting second-chance opportunities.

Young led the Hawks' offensive attack with 28 points, but it still wasn’t enough in a 120-95 rout. Atlanta now faces a single-game elimination Friday night against the winner of the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls game for the eighth-seed.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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