No current member of the New York Knicks was with the team in 2021, when the Knicks suffered a five-game loss to the Atlanta Hawks in an Eastern Conference first-round series.
But Trae Young is still with the Hawks, which should be more than enough to ensure Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal clash between Atlanta and host New York carries with it the most intense postseason-like environment of the knockout rounds.
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to Saturday’s semifinals in Las Vegas against the winner of Tuesday night’s Milwaukee Bucks-Orlando Magic game.
The Knicks last played Monday, when they mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to edge the host Toronto Raptors 113-108. The Hawks have been off since Sunday, when they fell to the visiting Denver Nuggets 141-111.
Both teams advanced to the NBA Cup quarterfinals by winning their respective groups. The Knicks went 4-0 in East Group A play while the Hawks went 3-1 in East Group C and earned the title via a 117-116 win over the Boston Celtics, who also finished 3-1.
The pursuit of the in-season tournament crown hasn’t noticeably motivated the Knicks, who have turned into an NBA title contender under famously all-business head coach Tom Thibodeau. New York, which has reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in each of the last two seasons after doing so just once in the preceding 22 seasons, hasn’t won it all since 1973.
Thibodeau channeled his inner Bill Belichick Dec. 3, when he repeatedly said he was “… just worried about Charlotte,” the Knicks’ next opponent, after New York clinched the Group A crown by beating the Magic 121-106.
But Jalen Brunson, the on-court version of Thibodeau, acknowledged the prize money for teams that reach the knockout rounds will get everyone’s attention. Players on teams that lose in the quarterfinals get a bonus of $51,497 while the eventual champions receive $514,971 apiece.
“I think there’s money involved,” Brunson said. “So I think there’s a lot of motivation regardless.”
As the modern version of Reggie Miller — the Indiana Pacers superstar who reveled in being public enemy No. 1 at Madison Square Garden in the 1990s — Young might not need any money to get motivated against the Knicks.
Young was taunted by sellout crowds in New York throughout the 2021 series, but the point guard repeatedly got the last word. He made a shushing motion after hitting the game-winning floater in the final second of a 107-105 win in Game 1 and finished the five-game set averaging 29.2 points and 9.8 assists per game.
Knicks fans have even taken to the road to taunt Young, who was booed at State Farm Arena Nov. 6, when he scored 23 points and had 10 assists in the Hawks’ 121-116 win Nov. 6.
“I hope these New York fans find their way to the exit real, real quick,” Young said during a postgame on-court interview. “Boooo! Take y’all (rear ends) home.”
The Hawks were routed Sunday, but Young’s flair for the dramatic hasn’t disappeared. He became the first NBA player in at least 45 years to collect at least 30 points and 20 assists while draining at least five 3-pointers last Friday, when Young hit the game-winning 3-pointer with eight seconds left in a 134-132 overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
“My confidence comes from the work that I’ve put in over the years,” Young said afterward.
