The Cleveland Cavaliers faced off against the Atlanta Hawks in the Play-In tournament to determine the Eastern Conference 8th seed. And the young Cavaliers seemed to have finally found their feet in the Play-In tournament after they were played off the court by the Brooklyn Nets in their last game. Except Trae Young showed up this time, much to the praise of former Cavalier, LeBron James.
The Cavaliers capitalized on their home court advantage and sped to an early lead. They rallied behind Lauri Markkanen’s 26 points and 8 blocks to lead the first half by 8 points. At the same time, their defensive schemes worked perfectly to clamp up Trae Young, aided by Evan Mobley’s excellent defense.
Young was held to an abysmal 6 points in the entire first half. The Hawks were on the brink of elimination as Trae had zero points and zero assists in the second quarter. And the memes on social media were surfacing before the East’s biggest villain turned it on.
Trae Young went off in the second half, scoring 32 more points, and adding another 6 assists to his tally. The young guard led his team’s comeback admirably and brought the fight to an in-control Cleveland side. He constantly unsettled the Cavaliers in the second half and finished the night with 52% shooting from the field.
Trae Young tonight:
38 PTS
9 AST
13-25 FG
8-9 FTHe scored 32 in the second half. pic.twitter.com/xnBkD1Tqti
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 16, 2022
Trae Young’s performance draws praise from LeBron James
Trae Young’s game-winning performance was the highlight of the night. Yet another clutch show from the Iceman, and celebrities and fellow athletes did not let it go unnoticed. Chief among them was LeBron James, the former Cavaliers champion and MVP, who is now following the playoffs from home.
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— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 16, 2022
A huge compliment to Young’s composure in a do-or-die game was his icy demeanor all throughout. Likewise, the resilience to come back from a bad start. Another high-profile friend of Young’s is American rapper, Quavo, who actually is an ardent supporter at home and away games. Quavo also tweeted out his praise.
Ice Trae The Gang!!! ????❄️ see ya in the A
— QuavoYRN (@QuavoStuntin) April 16, 2022
Although Quavo promised to be at the Hawks’ games, there was one other who could potentially face off against the Hawks who took note of Trae’s exploits. None other than the second-most active NBA player on Twitter after Kevin Durant, Ja Morant.
trae da GOODZ ????????????
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) April 16, 2022
The Memphis Grizzlies superstar was magnanimous in his praise and also quoted a meme that highlighted Trae’s second-half turnaround.
nah fr ???????????????? https://t.co/yrrNNnCkI9
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) April 16, 2022
Furthermore, Morant praised Young’s clutch mentality and showed respect to his fellow young star.
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) April 16, 2022
A great night out for Trae was capped off by widespread praise and now it remains to be seen how he does in the playoffs. Can Young and the Hawks replicate last season’s deep playoff run?