National Basketball Association

Trae Young proving to be the best player on the floor, no matter the opponent

Updated Jun. 24, 2021 6:58 a.m. ET

By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer

Say I told you Tuesday that in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Milwaukee Bucks would get 34 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo, 33 points and 10 assists from Jrue Holiday, 15 points from Khris Middleton and even 11 points from Bobby Portis, and they’d hold the Atlanta Hawks to 8-for-32 shooting from deep, and then I reminded you that this was all taking place on the Bucks’ home court.

You would have assumed the Bucks would walk off the court with a victory, right? Well, Game 1 arrived Wednesday, and the Bucks got all those results. And then they lost 116-113.

The reason was simple: The Hawks had Trae Young, and he was the best player on the floor.

"I really feel that his game, his style of play is really built for this time of the season," Hawks coach Nate McMillan said in his postgame news conference.

We’ve reached the point where Young’s performances should no longer surprise us, especially when on the road and especially in the opening game of a playoff series. "It’s almost normal at this point for me to see him get going [like this]," Hawks forward John Collins said after the game.

And yet! Something about seeing Young stand out so clearly in a conference finals game, while on the floor with Antetokounmpo — a two-time MVP who just disposed of the star-studded Brooklyn Nets — was stunning.

Young finished with 48 points. He dished out 11 assists. He drilled 17 of his 34 shots. He created, assisted on or scored 80 of the 108 points the Hawks scored while he was on the floor, according to Synergy Sports, and became the first player in NBA history to record 45 or more points and 10 or more assists in a conference finals game. He did it all against a team that entered the series with the best defensive rating in the playoffs and held both of its previous playoff opponents — the Nets and the Miami Heat before them — to minuscule offensive outputs.

Young got started early. The Bucks under head coach Mike Budenholzer emphasize protecting the rim and taking away corner 3-point looks. That means chasing over the screen on pick-and-rolls, having help defenders stay home on shooters and funneling ball handlers into Brook Lopez’s massive frame. But that also means giving ball handlers a runway into the paint and conceding floaters, a shot Young has perfected and was more than happy to lean on in the first half of Game 1.

The invitation into the paint allowed Young to find a rhythm. Then came the long triples. Then Young started firing darts to teammates. He broke Holiday’s ankles on one possession, then celebrated the move by shimmying before launching the shot.

The Bucks are the third team Young has faced this postseason, and they are the third defensive unit Young has left feeling worn down and perplexed. His combination of skills — "He really doesn't have a weakness on the offensive end of the floor," McMillan said — and basketball IQ make him look like an All-Pro quarterback who is somehow able to remain one step ahead of his opponent on each play.

"I've seen pretty much every defense, and it's really just figuring out what type of defense they're showing that night," Young said after the game. "For me, it's just trying to make the right read and figure out how they're going to guard."

The Hawks are now 6-2 on the road in the playoffs. Every game, they look more and more like a Finals team, and it’s because every game they play, they have the potential to have the best and most dangerous player on the floor.

For more up-to-date news on all things Hawks, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Think of it like this: Of all the ingredients that lead to playoff success, the most crucial one is a player who generates offense down the stretch of close games. When the physicality picks up. When whistles are swallowed.

That’s Young. He has proven himself to be unguardable, a player who can make the court feel 100 miles wide and an offense feel like it has seven players on the floor. The Hawks this postseason are 7-2 in games in which the score was within five points with five minutes or less left in regulation or overtime, and the offense has scored at a rate (129.9 points per 100 possessions, entering Game 1) that’s 10 points per 100 possessions better than the one put up during the regular season by the league’s top offense, the Nets.

That’s all Young.

For more up-to-date news on all things NBA, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Game 1 was a perfect example. Young’s jumper went cold, and the Bucks began switching defensive assignments on screens, a tactic that often left Young matched up with Antetokounmpo, a player too big, fast and strong. Young missed on six of his seven fourth-quarter shots. But he also got to the line 10 times and racked up 11 points and three assists.

That’s what should have the Bucks — and the rest of the league — quaking. This is just Year 1 for this Hawks squad, and Young is just learning how to use his powers, and they’ve already gotten this far.

That said, Young made clear Wednesday that he isn't showing up to this series with an "I’m just happy to be here" approach.

"I think we can go as far as we want to," he said.

Day by day, it’s becoming harder and harder to argue.

Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.