Trae Young's foul-drawing techniques this season have made opposing coaches and players go crazy, but this time it was the All-Star guard who left the floor fuming.
With just 4.7 seconds remaining in Wednesday night's game between the Hawks and Mavericks and Atlanta trailing by one point, Young was looking for an opportunity to hit a buzzer-beater. But on the final play, Dallas center Willie Cauley-Stein knocked Young down as he set a screen for teammate John Collins. Young ended up on the ground and watched Danilo Gallinari miss a tough fadeaway jumper as time expired, sealing a Mavs win.
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Young then proceeded to berate referee Josh Tiven, who saw Cauley-Stein hit Young but decided to swallow the whistle.
Trae Young was HEATED after not getting a foul 😡 pic.twitter.com/H71UEDElQg
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 11, 2021
Tiven told a pool reporter that the contact was "deemed incidental," and after reviewing the play postgame, the crew felt the no-call was the "correct decision." Young clearly disagreed with that assessment.
"The play was for me to get the ball, and 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 finished with 25 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds in the loss. "I mean, I'm not gonna fall just to fall at the end. That's just the most frustrating part, not really having an opportunity to make a play at the end is what's really frustrating."
@ATLHawks guard Trae Young talks about the no-called foul at the end of the game vs. the @dallasmavs #NBA | #TrueToAtlanta | #3ptcnvrsn pic.twitter.com/m4FYJ5YLaO
— The 3 Point Conversion (@3ptCnvrsn) February 11, 2021
Cauley-Stein, who scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench, gave Young credit for attempting a "sneaky" move but believed Tiven handled the situation correctly.
"I ain't even see Trae," Cauley-Stein said. "He's a smart kid. He was trying to get a quick, little foul to shoot free throws to ice the game. No way they was gonna give him that call for the game. Good try, though. That was smooth. It was sneaky."
