NBA: Trae Young scores 45 in return to MSG, Atlanta Hawks beat New York Knicks 117-111

Trae Young got a pregame hug from Spike Lee, so there was at least a little love for him inside Madison Square Garden. Once the game started, so did the boos.

And just like the playoffs, it was Young who had the last word.

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Young had 45 points and eight assists in his first game at MSG since becoming a villain to New York Knicks fans, leading a late surge that gave the Atlanta Hawks a 117-111 victory Tuesday night.

Picking up right where he left off last spring, Young made seven 3-pointers, including one that tied the game at 105 with 2:54 to play. He then set up Bogdan Bogdanovic for a go-ahead 3 and followed another by De’Andre Hunter by leaving Taj Gibson behind off the dribble and knocking down a jumper to cap an 11-0 spurt and make it 113-105 with 1:04 left.

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“I think the swag and what we were able to do on the court tonight and the energy we had in the huddle, I knew it was just us versus everybody tonight,” Young said. “And I think if we have that type of mindset each and every game, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Bogdanovic added a season-high 32 points for the Hawks, who dropped the Knicks six games behind them for 10th place in the Eastern Conference, the final spot in the play-in field.

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RJ Barrett had 28 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who fell to 30-42 to clinch their eighth losing season in the last nine. The only winning record was when they went 41-31 last season to earn the No. 4 seed in the East.

The Hawks then beat them in five games in the first round of the playoffs. Young was the star in his first postseason series, ignoring the profane taunts from fans and bowing to the crowd from near midcourt late in Game 5.

Young missed the return trip when he was sidelined for the Christmas game because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Fans booed him every time he touched the ball early Tuesday, though that didn’t last.

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“We knew that the crowd was going to have that energy similar to the playoffs and our focus was on us to play good basketball tonight, and we didn’t talk about New York or the playoff series,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “We needed to win this game. It’s a much-needed win for us and that was the focus.”

Young said Lee, the film director and perhaps the Knicks’ best-known fan, always shows him respect. And did the other fans sitting in the front row speak so kindly?

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“Oh yeah, they always do, don’t they?” Young joked.

Alec Burks had 21 points for the Knicks, who played without Julius Randle because of a sore right quadriceps tendon. They led by 10 early in the fourth, but the game changed when Young re-entered with 7:45 remaining.