Every day in the NBA there is a lot to unpack, so every weekday morning throughout the season we will give you the three things you need to know from the last 24 hours in the NBA.
1) Trae Young has made the leap and is pulling Hawks up with him. There were a lot of NBA pundits who looked at the Hawks’ roster before the season and said, “they are one year away” (*sheepishly raises hand*).
Trae Young is having none of that.
He is playing like an All-Star right now — and dragging the Hawks into potential playoff contention with him. Tuesday night he had 42 points, shot 8-of-11 from three (with some Stephen Curry-ranged makes), dished out 11 assists, and willed the Hawks to an impressive 125-121 win on the road in Denver.
That included the disrespectful — and brilliant — nutmeg of Will Barton.
This nutmeg was COLD
— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 13, 2019
@TheTraeYoung ❄️#TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/UJyPJBcb2m
Young is making history right now — he is the first Hawks player to have three straight games with at least 30 points and 10 assists. Tuesday night he became just the eighth player in NBA history to have a game with at least 40 points, 10 assists, and eight made threes. In his second season, he is averaging 28 points a game (sixth-best in the league so far, ahead of guys like Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard).
❄️ At 21 years old, @TheTraeYoung becomes the youngest player in @NBAHistory to record at least 30 PTS and 10 AST in 3-straight games! #SAPStatLineOfTheNight pic.twitter.com/lDrwVsMhDe
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) November 13, 2019
It is Young who has willed the Hawks to a 4-6 record (part of a four-way tie for seventh in the East early in the season). He has the team ignoring the fact John Collins is out until December due to a PEDs suspension (barring an unlikely successful appeal). Young got some help from Jabari Parker (20 points) Tuesday, and De’Andre Hunter’s length on the wings can be a boost (he had 12 points), but right now the Hawks are the Trae Young show.
And it’s one of the most entertaining shows in the league.
2) Bulls rookie Coby White hits seven threes in the fourth quarter, outscores Knicks by himself, leads Bulls to win. The Bulls want Roy Williams to show up to more games.
Rookie Coby White’s college coach showed up at the United Center Tuesday night to support his guy and White showed out for coach — seven threes in the fourth quarter (an NBA rookie record) as he outscored the Knicks 23-17 in the fourth all by himself and sparked the Chicago win, 120-102.
👀 @CobyWhite is the first rookie in @NBAHistory to hit 7 threes in a quarter! #NBARooks x #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/NqkCsYL2eH
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) November 13, 2019
Coby White has looked every bit the rookie this season, with flashes of potential in an up-and-down roller coaster of a season. He came into Tuesday’s game shooting 21.2 percent from three, but this is the second time this season he has gotten red-hot and secured the Bulls a win.
Chicago also got a good game out of another young guard in Kris Dunn, who matched the physicality of the Knicks in the first half.
This was not a turning point for Chicago — one player got hot and that masked the flaws this roster has for a night. A rookie hitting seven threes in a quarter is not a sustainable way to win games. But for now, the Bulls will take any win they can get.
3) Watch Joel Embiid’s game-winning dunk to list Sixers past Cavaliers. No bogus push-off call this time, the Sixers wanted to feed Joel Embiid in the post with the game on the line Tuesday night, and they did.
Embiid finished with 27 points and 16 rebounds in a game that was probably closer than it should have been — but that’s this year’s Sixers. Four of Philadelphia’s seven wins have been by eight points or less. At some point, if they keep playing with fire they are going to get burned.
For a night, however, Embiid was too big and too strong and bailed them out.