ICYMI: Trae Young continues to be the villain at Madison Square Garden, asks a heckler to "hold that L” during Hawks vs Knicks

For the first time since abusing the New York Knicks in last year’s NBA playoffs, Trae Young is back in Madison Square Garden to torment Knicks fans. With the home crowd booing and heckling the Atlanta Hawks' point guard even during warmups, “Ice Trae” came out on fire, seemingly determined to troll the Knicks fans.

With the game on national TV, the 23-year-old superstar eagerly went on to embarrass the New York Knicks with a phenomenal 21-point first half. He ended up with a career-high 45 points on a sizzling 13-25 shooting from the field, including 7-15 rainbow shots.

Trae Young’s virtuoso performance made him, even more, the villain in the eyes of the New York Knicks faithful. A heckler, who was seated courtside, received a special reply from the Hawks’ two-time All-Star:

“Hey, hold that, hold that L for me.”

True to his trash-talking pedigree, Trae Young had an ice-cold retort to one of his jeerers. Young went close to the fan, formed his hands into an L and dared the heckler to hold the sign and just practically shut up and watch. Fans in the Garden witnessed the ultra-talented scorer burn the Knicks yet again.

Besides keeping New York’s double-teaming defense off-balanced, Trae Young took away Taj Gibson’s ankle in just another humiliating episode for the Knicks defense.

Minutes before tip-off, there was a certain buzz in the MSG crowd that is usually reserved for legendary Knicks killers, Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller. It seemed like Trae Young had already become a part of that illustrious and exclusive club with the way the Garden fans were anticipating the game.

And just as he showed last year in the playoffs, Trae Young loves the animosity and the big-time moment in the historic venue. Without Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter, Young took it upon himself to torment Tom Thibodeau's well-laid plans on defense.

When asked after the game if the booing and heckling bothered him, he had this gem to unleash on the unfortunate MSG crowd:

“I couldn’t really hear them…It wasn’t that loud.”

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Can Trae Young lead the Atlanta Hawks back into the postseason via the play-in tournament?

The Atlanta Hawks will be looking to pull a series of upsets to get into the playoffs. [Photo: Peachtree Hoops]

The three teams in the Eastern Conference that’ll likely scramble for the last two tickets into the playoffs will be the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks. Unless the Hawks manage to lose all their remaining games and watch the Washington Wizards or the Knicks run the table, they should be in the play-in.

The fourth team will be one of the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors. If things stay as they are, the Raptors will be the 7th seed and join the above-mentioned teams in the play-in.

Getting into the play-in is not the goal, though. After posing serious problems to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, nothing but a return trip will be hugely disappointing.

If the Hawks are to make it back to where they want to go, they have to play much better defense. Their offense remains impressive, but they need their defense to be at least average.

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