National Basketball Association

Trae Young ices New York Knicks as Atlanta Hawks take 3-1 series lead

Published May. 30, 2021 4:00 p.m. ET

After splitting the first two games of the series on the road, the Hawks have hit their stride at home.

Trae Young told the New York Knicks "I'll see you in the A" after losing Game 2, portending a bounce back for the Atlanta Hawks in the series.

So far, Young and the Hawks have delivered in front of their home fans, smashing the Knicks 113-96 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Here's how the Hawks got it done in Game 4 on Sunday.

Key performer: Trae Young

Young continued his sensational start to life in the postseason, dropping 27 points on 9-for-21 shooting.

After breaking the 30-point threshold in the first two games of the series, the 22-year-old Young leaned more on distributing in Game 3 with 14 assists and 21 points.

For Game 4, Young shipped his 27 points in just 33 minutes of action, heading to the bench with more than three minutes remaining and the game well in hand for Atlanta.

He kept providing for his teammates, too, dishing nine assists in the blowout.

Turning point: The third quarter

Game 4 was pretty much neck and neck through the first half, with Atlanta leading 53-49 at the half.

By the time the buzzer sounded for the end of the third quarter, that lead ballooned to 88-71.

The Knicks went ice cold from the field, while Young channeled his "Ice Trae" nickname to hit back-to-back jumpers to start the frame.

Meanwhile, Julius Randle's struggles continued. He scored just five points in the third quarter and finished with 23 points on 7-for-19 shooting.

For Atlanta, a 15-5 run to close out the third put an exclamation point on the quarter.

Wild card: Bogdan Bogdanović

This game really shined a light on the difference in depth between the Hawks and Knicks.

While New York was only able to have six players clock more than 24 minutes in Game 4, the Hawks had seven such players. Chief among them was Bogdanović, who led the team with 34:47 of court time.

While his 12 points don't exactly jump off the stat sheet, all four of his makes came from 3-point range.

Furthermore, he chipped in with six assists and did the dirty work on the boards, collecting eight rebounds.

Did you know?

The Hawks extended their current home winning streak to 13 games, the longest active streak in the NBA. They haven’t lost a home game since April 15th.

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Twitter’s take:

What’s next?

The Hawks can close out the series in New York in Game 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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