The Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young is widely seen as one of the most exciting young players in the National Basketball Association (along with the Mavs’ Luka Doncic), a long range sniper who took the torch from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and helped to continue the popularity and efficacy of long range shooting.
Now, Luka Doncic and his running mate Kyrie Irving are showcasing their own deep ball skills; the duo staking their claim to a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
On Friday, May 24 Young took time out of his offseason schedule to share his thoughts on the Luka-Kyrie Irving duo, and his words were complimentary in nature.
Young’s words came amid an admitted missed call by NBA refs in Game Two of the Mavericks vs. Timberwolves series. Doncic also raved about a young Mavs big man’s ceiling following a plus performance vs. the Wolves.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) and guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in game two of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory
Young shared what many fans were thinking on his Twitter account as he said what millions of people were thinking on Friday night.
Doncic paced the Mavericks with 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds on Friday night while Irving flanked the Slovenian superstar with 20 points and six assists of his own, hitting clutch shots to stop big runs by the home team.
The timing of Young’s comments is especially interesting considering Young’s father recently fired back at Hawks fans who publicly wished Young’s team had drafted the budding Mavs legend instead of him.
The Mavericks’ dynamic duo of Irving and Doncic now has the opportunity to close out the series before it ever really got started with two straight games at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX starting Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET.
Doncic and Irving have made plenty of big shots in their playoff careers and now they find themselves with a chance to punch their ticket to the NBA’s version of the ‘Big Dance,’ the upcoming NBA Finals.
The Mavericks have stifled the Timberwolves by holding Anthony Edwards to just 33.3% shooting from the floor so far this season in the Western Conference Finals, for an average of 20 points per game over the first two contests.
Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves’ other top scorer, has been held to 27.8% shooting from the floor and 21.4% from three-point range.
Most of the talk coming into this season and playoff series surrounding the Wolves was about their defensive prowess. The Mavericks have shown once again that games are played on the court and not on the scoresheet. Sunday night should be an exciting contest, with Doncic and Irving looking to cement their status as the NBA’s next great duo, a title that Young has already bestowed upon them as a collective.