DALLAS – As soon as Danilo Gallinari’s difficult attempt shook the rim, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young tore off his trunk and stepped in front of referee Josh Tiven to protest a critical appeal to the final possession of a losses of 118-117 to the Dallas Mavericks.
Young had been hit on the floor as he set up a screen in the middle of Dallas Willie Cauley-Stein before the innings passed with 4.7 seconds left, preventing him from receiving the ball as the game was projected.
“I’m not going to run away from the ball with four seconds left and we’re trying to win the game,” said Young, who had 25 points and 15 assists in the loss. “I’m not going to fall just to fall at the end. That’s just the most frustrating part. Not really having the opportunity to play a piece at the end is just frustrating.”
Tiven, the crew chief, told a pool reporter that the contact at Cauley-Stein was “considered incidental”, so he did not whistle. Tiven said the officer’s crew came to the same conclusion after analyzing the song’s postgame video.
Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce strongly disagreed with his position as he successfully challenged the guests’ central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. before the ball is inserted.
“It’s really unfortunate that it ended like this,” Pierce said, adding that Tiven told him that Young could have been called for an illegal screen.
“It was a perfect screen,” Pierce said. “Willie Cauley-Stein ran away from Trae, and that’s a foul. It’s a foul. That’s why Trae was on the floor. He throws the game at us. It’s unfortunate. We thought our boys really competed. Trae was fouled. He falls to the floor. He is hit in the nose. He set a great screen. I give him credit; he set a great screen. We tried to execute, and he did. “
Dallas star Luka Doncic, who will always be linked to Young after being involved in a 2018 draft-night deal, recorded her seventh triple-double lead in the league with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 rebounds. decisive passes, while the Mavs started the biggest comeback victory of the season, amassing a 13-point deficit.
Mavs reserve Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Brunson combined for 24 points in the fourth quarter, with Dallas 10 behind Atlanta. Brunson, who had 11 of his 21 points in the fourth, repeatedly targeted Young as a defender along the way.
“Brunson was great,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. “A great player like Young is a guy you have to press defensively just to try to wear him out a little, and Jalen did a great job attacking him.”
Cauley-Stein also played a critical role in the victory, after not participating in the previous two matches due to the coach’s decisions. He had 14 points and six rebounds from the bench, and Dallas outscored Atlanta by 19 in its 23 minutes.
Cauley-Stein, who defended John Collins when Young made a screen behind the final game, was not surprised that the referees chose not to throw the whistles.
“I don’t even see Trae,” Cauley-Stein. “He’s a smart kid. He was trying to get a quick, small mistake to throw free throws and freeze the game. By no means would they give him that call for the game. Good try, though. It was good. Trick.”
As for Young, Cauley-Stein’s explanation was proof that a foul should have been committed.
“Obviously, with him saying he doesn’t see me [and] running me, it’s a good screen, “Young said.” I set a good screen. Like he said, he didn’t see me. He turned and ran straight at me. If Dorian [Finney-Smith] he wasn’t there, I would have fallen straight back, but he was there and he used his hands a little, so I fell sideways. That’s kind of what happened.
“He just came back and didn’t see me, and I was there and he came across me. When I was on the ground, the referee was looking at me. He didn’t say anything and didn’t call anything.”