"Damn trae" - Ja Morant gives a shoutout to fellow point guard Trae Young after 56-point, 14 assist night against Portland Trail Blazers
Following the NBA's Monday night action, Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies took to Twitter to show respect for Trae Young. Young put up an outstanding performance at the Atlanta Hawks vs Portland Trail Blazers game.
Recording 56 points for the game, Trae Young also notched a new career-high in the 131-136 loss against the Atlanta Hawks.
He shot 17-of-26 from the field and 7-of-12 from beyond the arc and was virtually unstoppable during the game. Young also added an impressive 14 assists to his overall scoring numbers.
Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant took to Twitter to praise Young, writing:
"damn trae . a cold mf"
damn trae 🥶 . a cold mf twitter.com/legionhoops/st…
Morant himself came off a tremendous performance for the night. He put up a 36-point display against the Brooklyn Nets to deliver another win for the Memphis Grizzlies. Morant was also named the Western Conference's player of the week as he led the Grizzlies to a 3-0 record over the past week.
Although Young's effort would not result in a win for Atlanta, the overall offensive display has definitely seen the league's best players take note of his performance.
Trae Young's career-night against the Portland Trail Blazers
Trae Young has been one of Atlanta's most impactful players over the past few seasons. Carrying the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2020 NBA Playoffs, the 23-year-old is one of the most talented youngsters in the game.
The Hawks had a depleted roster heading into the game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Consequently, Young had to carry the entirety of the Atlanta Hawks' offensive responsibility in the game. Shooting and dishing out dimes at will, his 56 points and 14 assists stat line sees him join some elite company.
Trae Young (56p/14a) is the 4th player ever with 50+ points and 14+ assists in a game. The other three are James Harden, Nate Archibald (twice) and Wilt Chamberlain. https://t.co/TwGUPdNLEK
There have only been three other players who have scored 50+ points in a game and dished out 14+ assists in a game. By doing so, Young has joined Nate Archibald (twice), Wilt Chamberlain and James Harden as the fourth player to ever do so.
Although the game against the Trail Blazers saw an immense contribution from Young, the rest of the team came up short in many ways. Clint Capela was the only other active scoring force on the team with 22 points as the rest of the Hawks' offense paled in comparison to their superstar's career night.
Conversely, the Hawks struggled to defend against Portland's starting rotation as well. They allowed four players to score over 20 points in addition to letting Anfernee Simons go on a scoring tear as he recorded 43 points on the night.
🔥 @AnferneeSimons comes up HUGE in the @trailblazers win! 🔥
Career-high 43 points
9 threes (tying career high) https://t.co/zpZew6kVol
Simons entered the starting rotation in Damian Lillard's stead and put on a show in 39 minutes of game time. He shot 13-of-21 from the floor and 9-of-16 from downtown in a tremendous showing. Simons' display, combined with solid efforts from Norman Powell, Nasir Little and Jusuf Nurkic, saw the Trail Blazers emerge as the winners in this matchup.