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CLEVELAND – Young Trae's is sprinkled with a bucket of ice water after his third game in the NBA.
The Cavaliers could do nothing to calm the Atlanta rookie guard.
Young scored 35 points with 11 assists – the best line for a freshman since Steph Curry in 2010 – and Kent Bazemore scored 23 while the Hawks won an easy 133-111 win Sunday against Cleveland, who lost his first home game. dropped to 0-3 while he readjusted to life without LeBron James.
Top pick in this year's first five picks, Young has slowly started to show why the Hawks believe he's a future superstar. Young was then targeted by his teammates after coach Lloyd Pierce's first victory.
"It was really cold," Young said with a smile after his shocking bath. "I thought it would just coach Pierce because he had his first win, but all was well. I'll take it."
Young was also unaware of his match against Curry, who scored at least 35 times with 10 assists in his first season with Golden State. And in just three games of the season, Young has 79 more chances to do it again.
"Now that we know what he's capable of, we're expecting a bit more," Bazemore joked.
The Hawks set a team record of 22 points to 3 points, including 10 against 41 in the fourth quarter, to blow up the game and send Cleveland home fans earlier. Many shook their heads as they left.
Jordan Clarkson scored 19 and Kevin Love had 16 with 17 rebounds for the Cavs, which could be in a very long season after LeBron.
Cleveland's problems seem to be much deeper than not having the best player in the game. The Cavs are not playing at the professional level and have lost 116, 131 and 133 points in their first three games.
"We did not expect to be 0-3," said Love, who was asked if he was alarmed by the performance. "At the opening night at home, we expect to play better in front of our own fans. I do not know if alarming is the right word, but that sounds good, at the moment. Our level of effort was just not there. It's a year of growth for us. We have to get better. "
While wearing neon green sneakers, Young showed a lot of flash in his game.
He made 6 of 7 shots and scored 18 in the second quarter, helping the Hawks to clear a 15-point lead and go up 64-60 at half-time.
"Trae is fearless," Bazemore said. "Even in practices earlier this summer, he came in and settled down right away. That's what you have to respect. A young man who arrives, he is not shy, he is not shy and who has this kind of talent, he will have ups and downs. I'm proud of him as a teammate. "
It's a brand new match in Cleveland without James, who led the Cavaliers to four consecutive NBA Finals and one title in 2016 before leaving as a free agent – for the second time – in July in Los Angeles.
The Cavaliers are starting from scratch, but believe that they can still be competitive in the Eastern Conference.
Love, who has signed a four-year $ 120 million contract extension this summer. But he does not have much help and it may take some time before Sexton is ready to contribute.
Sexton came off the bench and scored four points on 2 of 11 shots in 28 minutes. The Cavaliers' coach, Tyronn Lue, felt that his young guard could have been caught in his duel with Young.
"He took it personally," Lue said. "He was flying over the screens to get there and that was not what we wanted to do."
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