It is going to be a highly anticipated matchup every time these two meet, especially early on in their careers. Adding in the fact that it will be the Hawks home opener in their newly renovated State Farm Arena, brings a little more flare to the game as well.
The Hawks have gotten off to a 1-2 to start, but that doesn’t represent the amount of excitement their fans have after Trae Young put up 35 points and 11 assists in just his third career game. The polarizing rookie point guard has shown steady improvement ever since his professional debut in summer league.
Doncic, of course, has been a professional for quite some time, winning over the hearts of Europeans since he was a young teen in the EuroLeague. His first three games have been quite impressive, looking more comfortable from one game to the next after a shaky shooting outing in his first game. There’s no doubt he has the opportunity to be a stat sheet stuffer, but the box scores don’t do some of his talents justice.
Take a look at this play:
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1054546109509652480
There certainly isn’t a lack of confidence in Doncic’s game, who appears ready to make a name for himself right away. The Mavs have every reason to be giddy about their decision to move up and take the reigning EuroLeague MVP.
On the flip side, Hawks fans have already claimed Trae Young their Lord and Savior.
Jokes aside, Young’s performance against the Cavs is one of the few pieces of excitement the Hawks have produced in over a year. Atlanta’s offense is averaging 119 points per game with Young starting at the point, and that’s without their best player, John Collins, who is not expected to be back for at least a few more weeks. There’s reason for optimism regarding this Hawks rebuild, a word not usually associated with the franchise.
Despite everyone’s best efforts to make this into some sort of rivalry, both Young and Doncic have shown nothing but encouragement for each other. After Young’s breakout game, Doncic took to Twitter to show him some love.
https://twitter.com/luka7doncic/status/1054193725969182720
Young responded with this:
https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1054195613011767296
We will see if things change on the court Wednesday night.