It only took Trae Young three NBA games to replicate his absurd production from the college days at Oklahoma.
On Sunday night, the dynamic rookie rolled for 35 points and 11 assists in the Atlanta Hawks' 133-111 road rout of the Cavaliers.
For better context, according to Sports Illustrated, Young became just the third NBA rookie since 2000 to amass 35 points and 10 assists in the same game.
The other two stars to accomplish the feat: Steph Curry and LeBron James.
The victory marked a milestone for four Atlanta newcomers: Kevin Huerter (nine points, 10 rebounds), Omari Spellman (17 points) and Young (last season's NCAA champion in scoring and assists) collected their first professional victories; and Lloyd Pierce officially cracked the 'W' column, when charting head-coaching wins.
The Hawks went absolutely bonkers after shrugging off a slow start (seven points in the first eight minutes), burying 22 three-pointers overall and posting two different quarters of 40-plus points.
Young was at the forefront of the Hawks' perimeter excellence (47 percent from beyond the arc), connecting on six of 14 triples. But he wasn't alone on the flurry, as Huerter, Spellman, Kent Bazemore and DeAndre' Bembry nailed at least three treys apiece against the Cavaliers.
Sunday's victory capped the Hawks' three-game road trip, leading into Wednesday's much-anticipated debut of State Farm Arena, which underwent a massive renovation this spring/summer (north of $200 million) and adopted a new name in the process.
It also spared Atlanta (1-2) from being the last Eastern Conference team to register a win, a distinction which currently belongs to the Cavaliers (0-3), Wizards (0-2) and Bulls (0-2).
Here's another cool nugget: Of the 11 Hawks to garner playing time on Sunday, just one failed to notch a positive plus/minus ratio versus Cleveland (Vince Carter).
On the positive side, Alex Len (16 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks), Bazemore (23 points, five assists, four rebounds), Huerter, Spellman and Young all maximized their time on the court.
Regarding Young ... Sunday's performance marked personal highs with three-pointers made, field goals made (13), field goals attempted (23) and assists.
Just in time for Wednesday's home debut against the Mavericks, prompting the obligatory comparisons to Luka Doncic–the high-profile rookie who was selected and subsequently traded by Atlanta on Draft Night.
