Trae Young has been the subject of controversy for a bit now, but no one is talking about any of that following the Atlanta Hawks’ 116-105 win over the Miami Heat in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday. TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal wanted to hear the team’s battle cry, and the young point guard happily obliged, per NBA on TNT.
Shaq sent out the call to Trae after the win in Miami pic.twitter.com/aMFoTDsxxo
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 12, 2023
The cawing call has been a thing between the two men going back a couple years. Young delivered it with exuberance and certainly did not look like a player who is eager to force his way out of Atlanta. Perhaps winning will cure whatever lingering tension there has been throughout this season.
Young, who had a poor track record against Miami dating back to last year’s playoffs, stepped up in a big way in this high-stakes showdown. He put together an impressive stat line with 25 points, seven assists and eight rebounds. He did again struggle from 3-point land (1-of-8), but was able to keep pushing the pace against the Heat’s usually stingy defense.
Shaq would relish the opportunity to fire off some more bird sounds, but that would require more heroics from the two-time All-Star. That could be difficult with the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics awaiting the Hawks this Saturday in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Forget winning, if Young can just do everything in his power to make the series interesting, fans will likely forget the drama surrounding him and former head coach Nate McMillan.
But no one will forget two guys cawing at one another.
The post Trae Young answers Shaq’s cawing call after Hawks’ decimation of Heat in Play-In appeared first on ClutchPoints.
