New York Knicks vs Atlanta Hawks: 3 player matchups to watch

New York Knicks: Elfrid Payton vs. Trae Young

Elfrid Payton may be a liability on the offensive end of the floor, but this matchup is an important one because of his ability to defend.

Trae Young, being not only the Hawks’ best player, but also one of the better offensive players in the entire league has been an issue for opposing defenses.

Very few defenders have been able to slow him down, as he averaged 25.3 points per game to go with 9.4 assists per game.

Trae Young is a natural-born scorer who has proven to be able to score from anywhere on the court with infinite range.

Being that he has to be defended at halfcourt, he often uses that to his advantage by driving the lane and using his floater to score near the rim.

With that being said, Trae Young has one of the more polished offensive games in the entire league and must have an elite perimeter defender on him at all times.

This is where having a defensive-minded point guard in the lineup like Payton will pay dividends for the Knicks.

The fact that the Knicks have a player such as Payton that does not use much energy offensively and strictly focuses on slowing down Trae Young is a luxury many teams do not have.

Elfrid Payton has the ideal size and lateral quickness to disrupt Young’s game and not allow him to get in the lane for easy looks.

The Hawks basically live or die off of the scoring and playmaking ability of their star Trae Young, which is what makes this matchup one of the more important ones in this entire series.