Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks hit rock bottom in Tuesday night’s NBA Play-In Tournament matchup against the Orlando Magic. Not only did the Hawks get blown off the floor in a 120-95 loss, but their franchise star let his frustration boil over in a fourth-quarter meltdown that ended with an ejection.
With just under five minutes left and Atlanta trailing by 22, Young tossed the ball at referee James Williams after a stoppage. That earned him his first technical foul. Then, as officials attempted to proceed with the free throw, Young kicked the ball away and played a brief game of keep-away with another referee, Pat Fraher. That antic drew a second unsportsmanlike technical and an automatic ejection.
After the game, referee James Williams explained the reasoning behind the ejection, saying, “He was making a mockery of the game.” The crew followed standard procedure: two unsportsmanlike techs equal an automatic boot.
Young had been having a decent statistical night — he dropped 28 points and helped the Hawks cut a 22-point first-half deficit down to just three in the third quarter. But he also got off to a brutal start, and Atlanta completely unraveled late. Once again, the Hawks’ lack of discipline and composure was on full display.
Head coach Quin Snyder addressed the outburst after the loss, revealing that Young acknowledged his mistake and admitted he needs to control his emotions better moving forward.
That’s going to be absolutely essential if Atlanta wants to avoid elimination in their next play-in game on Friday, when they’ll face either the Chicago Bulls or Miami Heat. With their season on the line, the Hawks will need more than just Young’s scoring — they’ll need him to lead, not unravel.
