Trae Young And Luka Doncic Looked A Lot Like Two Rookies In Their National TV Showdown

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The Atlanta Hawks will play one true nationally-televised game this season (they do have two NBA TV games that technically count), and it took place on Wednesday night in their home opener against the Dallas Mavericks. The matchup made it to ESPN because it was the first game between Luka Doncic and Trae Young, who were essentially traded for each other on draft night (along with Dallas’ first rounder next year).

However, what was billed as one of the marquee rookie matchups of the year ended up being a sloppy, disjointed affair, which is actually fairly appropriate. The rookies looked like rookies, with the exception of a few moments of brilliance. Doncic started out on fire, with 12 points in the first six minutes of the game as the Mavs jumped out to, at its peak, a 51-25 first-half lead. He showed off the full array of skills in that stretch, with stepbacks, hesitation moves, floaters and runners.


But he cooled off tremendously after that, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and three turnovers on 7-of-18 shooting after a 4-for-4 start from the field. He made some rookie mistakes with the ball in his hands and, like many of his teammates, began pressing from three-point range (where he was 2-of-9) as things weren’t going well offensively in the second half and Atlanta was mounting a comeback.

On the other side was Trae Young, who finished the night with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds, and five turnovers. He had the opposite night of Doncic, starting off 1-for-9 from the field before finishing 3-of-12 and doing well late to get to the free throw line, where he was 10-of-13 to help ice a comeback win for Atlanta. Young struggled early to find any sort of rhythm, getting into early foul trouble and then pressing on offense once he got back in the game.

Young’s finish was to the Hawks what Doncic’s start was — a lift from the star rookie within a huge run. On back-to-back possessions, Young took it to the rim with confidence, including the highlight of the evening with a dazzling display of ball-handling before a tough finish over a contest from Maxi Kleber.

The Hawks best players on the night were Kent Bazemore (32 points, seven assists) and Taurean Prince (24 points), as they led much of the comeback for Atlanta in the second half while Young dealt with foul trouble, but Young gave them exactly what they needed late in the form of play-making and free-throw shooting.

It’s the type of game we should expect in a matchup of two rookies who have the ball in their hands a considerable amount. Rookies are rarely efficient and, especially this early in the season, both are still adapting to the NBA game. They have bright points that show why they were such high draft picks and offer fans hope for what their potential ceilings can be. They have low points where you remember how young they are and that at times, the J.J. Barea’s and Vince Carter’s of the world will beat them with guile and craftiness because they haven’t learned all the tricks of the trade yet.

For those hoping Wednesday would provide some referendum on who won the draft-night trade, I’m sorry to disappoint you. That was never going to be the case, no matter the outcome, but even the most ardent supporters of either would have a tough time coming away from Wednesday’s battle feeling the confidence to say their guy was significantly better than the other. The truth is, it’ll be years before we know who won the trade, and hopefully for both teams, there isn’t a clear-cut winner because both players tap into that potential they showed in the newly-renovated State Farm Arena on Wednesday.

As for the present, enjoy the highs, expect the lows, and take solace in the fact that both teams appear to have, at the very least, a pair of players capable of spectacular moments because there haven’t been a ton of those in either place recently.

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