On Saturday night, the Atlanta Hawks suffered their sixth straight loss with a home defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks in narrow fashion. The Hawks showed some heart in fighting back to make this one competitive down the stretch, but ultimately, they were unable to do enough to get the win, falling by a final score of 128-125.
It was a particularly rough game from Trae Young, who scored just nine points on the evening and committed a costly turnover in the final seconds when Atlanta had a chance to take the lead.
At one point in the game, Knicks commentator Alan Hahn had a harsh take on Young's effort on one particular defensive play.
(via New York Basketball on X, formerly Twitter).
"Is there any hustle, any effort there whatsoever. That's the face of your franchise"
–– @alanhahn on Trae Young pic.twitter.com/3GVViXpfVS
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 28, 2025
Knicks fans have a special hatred in their heart for Young ever since he eliminated them from the 2021 playoffs in five games, with the fanbase constantly relishing whenever they have been able to beat the Hawks over the years since then.
Meanwhile, the Young era in Atlanta very well could be on its last legs, as the Hawks are still winless since the All-Star returned from his MCL sprain two weeks ago, with the defense, which had already been teetering, having now fully collapsed into one of the worst units in the NBA landscape.
The struggles have caused some to wonder if the Hawks may consider trading Young, especially now that Jalen Johnson seems to have taken over as the team's best player.
In any case, things don't get any easier from here for the Hawks, as their next three games will be against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, and then a rematch against the Knicks next week in New York. The game against the Thunder is set for Monday evening at 8:00 pm ET.
