Trae Young drilled a 3 and took a bow while eliminating Knicks from playoffs (Video)

Trae Young is officially a lifelong New York Knicks villain after drilling a late 3 and taking a bow at Madison Square Garden while eliminating the Knicks.

Trae Young spent his entire first playoff series cementing his status as a lifelong New York Knicks villain. In Game 5 on Wednesday night, he put the final nail in that coffin, as well as the Knicks’, in a 103-89 rout.

Finishing with a game-high 36 points and 9 assists, Young only shot 10-for-28 from the field and 3-for-11 from 3-point range. Unfortunately for New York, he still got to the foul line 15 times and made 13 of them, and the Atlanta Hawks controlled most of the game en route to a gentleman’s sweep in a first-round series that was far less competitive than anyone anticipated.

Young saved his best for the final minute of the game, however. As Madison Square Garden rose to its feet to give the Knicks a standing ovation in appreciation for this pleasantly surprising season, Young drilled a deep 3-pointer to remind everyone there are no moral victories when you lose an elimination game at home. Then, just to add some extra salt in the wound of MSG’s feel-good moment, he took a bow in front of the crowd, stealing their ovation for himself.

Trae Young was just ruthless for taking his bow late in Game 5

Young was an absolute Knicks killer in this series, averaging 29.2 points and 9.8 assists per game. He silenced Madison Square Garden in Game 1 after his game-winner, and in a chippy series that featured “F**k Trae Young” chants, one fan spitting on him and a number of scraps in the decisive Game 5, a relatively uncompetitive matchup was filled with a surprising amount of animosity.

The 22-year-old point guard seemed to relish that competitive fire and harnessed it to torch New York’s favorite basketball team. This unnecessary dagger 3, followed by the villainous bow at the end, just means Knicks fans won’t let him hear the end of the boos anytime he enters that arena again.