‘Love and hate’ – Trae Young drags Shaq into MSG’s logo celebrations after ‘rolling the dice’ to keep $500k hopes alive
Forget the $500,000 winners prize, Trae Young might actually be the Mayor of New York. The 26-year-old led the Atalanta Hawks to an NBA Cup quarterfinal victory over the New York Knicks and put everyone, including Shaquille O’Neal, on blast afterwards. Trae Young kneels as he rolls the dice on the Knicks logoCredit: @TheTraeYoung via X A storm in favour of the Hawks in the second-quarter led them to a 108-100 win over the Knicks as they overturned a halftime deficit to punch their ticket to Las Vegas. As the game came to an end in the final seconds, Young kneeled down on the Knicks’ mid court logo at Madison Square Garden and rolled a dice. A celebration that had fans in the stadium furious as the Hawks guard inflicted more pain on a team that has scorned him in recent years. “I rolled an eight, and I picked it up and I rolled it again,” Young said on his celebration. “We’re going to Vegas, so that’s what I had to. “I planned that one with my little brother a few days ago. We had talked about that, and I mean, I knew what I was going to do.” It was a rough start for Young and the Hawks but a blistering third-quarter, which saw them outscore the home team by 16 points, was the catalyst for a Young-inspired victory. The 26-year-old scored 8 straight points when the Hawks were down 66-62 midway through the third quarter, including back-to-back three pointers. Young would end the night on 22 points while De’Andre Hunter scored 24 points and Jalen Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. Jalen Brunson, who put up 15 points for the Knicks, refused to bite when asked about Young’s celebration. “We should win the game if we don’t want him to do that,” Brunson told reporters after the loss. Trae Young drives to the basket View Tweet: https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1867066549569204565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Hawks Head Coach Quin Synder also spoke about their slow start and made a quip about the technical issues at the start of the game. “I thought we were a little nervous at the beginning of the game,” Snyder said. “Someone mentioned to me that the scoreboard wasn’t working early on, and maybe that was a good thing.” Hawks star Young could not end the night without speaking about his relationship with the Knicks fans. “It’s love-hate relationship,” Young said in his post-match interview. “I got a lot of love and a lot of hate I guess from them, but I got a lot love from them too. It’s respect.” Young had one more score to settle as he took to social media to have a dig at NBA icon and Inside the NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal who has been critical of the Hawks. Young took a swipe at Shaq in his post game social media activityX@TheTraeYoung “No way. Bet it,” O’Neal said when Charles Barkley favoured the Hawks to beat the Knicks during the TNT’s pre-game show. The NBA legend was quick to dial back in the post-game show and praised Young for his efforts, “Trae owns the Knicks,” O’Neal said during TNT’s Postgame Show. Young and the Hawks are now off to Sin City for the semifinals this weekend where they will face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern showdown. In the West, the Houston Rockets will face the Oklahoma City Thunder for the right to reach the final and duke it out for the $500,000 on offer for each player on the winning team in the final on December
Forget the $500,000 winners prize, Trae Young might actually be the Mayor of New York.
The 26-year-old led the Atalanta Hawks to an NBA Cup quarterfinal victory over the New York Knicks and put everyone, including Shaquille O’Neal, on blast afterwards.
A storm in favour of the Hawks in the second-quarter led them to a 108-100 win over the Knicks as they overturned a halftime deficit to punch their ticket to Las Vegas.
As the game came to an end in the final seconds, Young kneeled down on the Knicks’ mid court logo at Madison Square Garden and rolled a dice.
A celebration that had fans in the stadium furious as the Hawks guard inflicted more pain on a team that has scorned him in recent years.
“I rolled an eight, and I picked it up and I rolled it again,” Young said on his celebration. “We’re going to Vegas, so that’s what I had to.
“I planned that one with my little brother a few days ago. We had talked about that, and I mean, I knew what I was going to do.”
It was a rough start for Young and the Hawks but a blistering third-quarter, which saw them outscore the home team by 16 points, was the catalyst for a Young-inspired victory.
The 26-year-old scored 8 straight points when the Hawks were down 66-62 midway through the third quarter, including back-to-back three pointers.
Young would end the night on 22 points while De’Andre Hunter scored 24 points and Jalen Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists.
Jalen Brunson, who put up 15 points for the Knicks, refused to bite when asked about Young’s celebration.
“We should win the game if we don’t want him to do that,” Brunson told reporters after the loss.
Hawks Head Coach Quin Synder also spoke about their slow start and made a quip about the technical issues at the start of the game.
“I thought we were a little nervous at the beginning of the game,” Snyder said. “Someone mentioned to me that the scoreboard wasn’t working early on, and maybe that was a good thing.”
Hawks star Young could not end the night without speaking about his relationship with the Knicks fans.
“It’s love-hate relationship,” Young said in his post-match interview. “I got a lot of love and a lot of hate I guess from them, but I got a lot love from them too. It’s respect.”
Young had one more score to settle as he took to social media to have a dig at NBA icon and Inside the NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal who has been critical of the Hawks.
“No way. Bet it,” O’Neal said when Charles Barkley favoured the Hawks to beat the Knicks during the TNT’s pre-game show.
The NBA legend was quick to dial back in the post-game show and praised Young for his efforts, “Trae owns the Knicks,” O’Neal said during TNT’s Postgame Show.
Young and the Hawks are now off to Sin City for the semifinals this weekend where they will face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern showdown.
In the West, the Houston Rockets will face the Oklahoma City Thunder for the right to reach the final and duke it out for the $500,000 on offer for each player on the winning team in the final on December
