Knicks owner/Hawks superstar Trae Young continues to TORCH New York, and then rub it in their faces ... and last night was no exception -- Ice Trae was as cold as ever, dropping 45 points and telling a heckling fan to "hold that L."
Young and the Hawks visited the world's most famous arena ... to square off against their Eastern Conference rival, the Knicks, and Trae more than lived up to his nickname.
The game was back-and-forth throughout the first half, and the faithful at MSG were letting Trae hear it all night.
At one point, while Trae was walking to the corner, comedian Roy Wood Jr. (who was sitting courtside) recorded video of an exchange between Young and some Knicks fans who'd apparently been trolling the hooper.
In the video, you can see Trae walking in the fans direction to cover Immanuel Quickley ... when he suddenly walks right up to a fan and says "Ayy hold that, hold that. Hold that L."
Of course, the rivalry between Young and Knicks fans dates back to last season's playoffs ... when Trae and his Hawks eliminated New York in 5 games in the first round.
Young averaged close to 30 points and 10 assists ... and played even better at the Garden than he did at his home arena, prompting Knicks fans to chant "F*** Trae Young" whenever he touched the ball.
Super Knicks fan Spike Lee had a front row seat for Trae's brilliant performance ... and the film director didn't look too thrilled as he watched Young torture his squad.
Trae is putting on a show at MSG and Spike isn't having it 😅 pic.twitter.com/d0LtslIGlZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 23, 2022
Humiliating Knicks fans wasn't all #11 did last night -- Trae hit Knicks big man Taj Gibson with a sick crossover before nailing a sweet pullup midrange jumper, and the crowd ate it up.
Trae Young dropped Taj Gibson on his way to scoring 45 POINTS at MSG ❄️pic.twitter.com/Atju9yERaz
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 23, 2022
The Hawks previously dropped their first 3 meetings against New York this season, but thanks to a dominant performance from Young ... they were able to salvage the last meeting, winning the game 117-111.