Young feels team chemistry building

With his fourth-quarter performance Friday against the Bulls, Trae Young gave a master class on closing out a tight game.

He played mistake-free, with zero turnovers. He made clutch shots, with seven points. And, something that stood out from the rest to the Hawks’ coaching staff — he had five assists, leveraging the overwhelming attention the Bulls’ defense showed him into good looks for Danilo Gallinari (15 points in the fourth, 20 overall) and Clint Capela (eight points in the fourth, 22 overall).

Young always has been an excellent passer, so it’s not that statistic in and of itself that is so key. It’s the increasing trust Young (who finished with 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds) has shown in his teammates as this season progresses, which no doubt helped the Hawks to their 120-108 win vs. the Bulls, putting them at 28-25 and the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. They’ve won five of their past six games and have a favorable schedule in the season’s final stretch.

“For us to take the next step, Trae has to take that next step,” interim coach Nate McMillan said after the win. “He has some players on this team that they’ve added. … They added some veterans on the team to the roster, and these are guys that can play. They can help him. And he has to trust those guys. And he has to also organize and put those guys in position to do well and have success, and I thought he did that (Friday).”

McMillan has echoed that point a few times since taking over for Lloyd Pierce in early March, that Young showing trust in his teammates is vital, particularly considering how often Young, averaging 25.4 points and

9.5 assists in his third season, gets trapped and double-teamed on defense.

The past two seasons, the Hawks’ roster was not designed to win, as the franchise rebuilt. This roster is a significant departure from that, with much more talent added in the offseason and at the trade deadline, including Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Tony Snell and Lou Williams, as the team aims to make the playoffs.

With that added firepower, the Hawks might not need him to take every shot, but they do need him to read the defense and make the right decision, whether that’s taking it himself or setting up someone else. His growth in making that judgment call is clear not only to McMil- lan, but to assistant coaches Melvin Hunt and Chris Jent, both of whom have been on the staff since the start of Young’s NBA career.

“Those guys that have been here with him for the last couple years, they are saying that they’ve seen a lot of growth,” McMillan said.

“That last year, he wouldn’t have done that, or he would take the shot. I am seeing growth, and for us to get to that next level, he has to do those things. He has to recognize what the defense is trying to do, make them pay, take advantage of the mismatch.”

Sometimes, there might be a mismatch in the paint, if a smaller player is defending Gallinari. Sometimes it might be Bogdanovic on the perimeter, if a bigger player has switched onto him.

Obviously, Young can still create offense in a pick-androll and can still make the decision to attack on his own. He did so in Friday’s win numerous times and had his floater going nicely. But McMillan was especially impressed with Young’s ability to recognize the defense, and if the Bulls were trapping or switching, stretch them out and make them pay accordingly.

“He’s such a talented player and he can do a lot of things, and sometimes he doesn’t have to work as hard as he does, sometimes,” McMillan said. “When you’re putting two players on the ball, what he needs to do, what we’ve been showing him and working on with him is stretch that defense and get that ball out of the trap. You have some teammates that can make plays. They can make passes, they can make shots. And your job is done.”

Young said that trust in his teammates is increasing, and a large part of that is building more chemistry with this group. The Hawks have nine new players on the roster this season, so Young had to learn each individual’s tendencies and habits.

“I think I’m definitely learning to trust my team- mates even more,” Young said.

BEN MARGOT/AP Trae Young drives past the Bulls’ Lauri Markkanen for two of his 42 points during the second half of Friday night’s 120-108 Hawks win at State Farm Arena.