For the ninth time in his career, Trae Young has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month alongside MVP front runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won the same award in the opposite conference.
Young averaged north of 24 points and 13 assists in the week, and his only free throw miss was an intentional miss with 0.5 seconds remaining to seal the latest win over the Indiana Pacers. The Hawks finished 3-1 over the past week, and have climbed to the seven seed in the Eastern Conference.
The official press release from the Atlanta Hawks:
> **ATLANTA** – Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played March 3 through March 9, the NBA announced today. The four-time All-Star earns his second weekly honor of the season (Feb. 10) and the ninth of his career.
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> In four games played during the week, Young averaged 24.5 points, a league-best 13.0 assists, in addition to 2.8 rebounds in 35.1 minutes of action. He was the only player in the East, and one of only three in the NBA, to average 20-or-more points and 10-or-more assists this past week (min. 3 GP). Young led the Hawks to a 3-1 record, despite facing off against three teams currently ranked top 5 in their respective conferences: Memphis (March 3, 4th in West), Milwaukee (March 4, 4th in East), Indiana (March 6 and March 8, 5th in East).
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> Young handed out an NBA-best 52 total assists during the week, 14 more than the next closest player in the league (James Harden: 38 assists, 4 GP) and 23 more than the next closest Eastern Conference player (Cade Cunningham: 29 assists, 4 GP). He also owned three of the top 5 highest assisted games this past week by an Eastern Conference player: 16 vs. Indiana (March 6, 1st), 15 at Memphis (t2nd) and 13 vs. Milwaukee (5th).
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> The Oklahoma product secured three straight point/assist double-doubles, including back-to-back 20-point, 10-assist outings this past week. In the NBA this season, Young owns a league-leading 38 point/assist double-doubles, including a conference-best 26 games with at least 20 points and 10 helpers. The 6-1 guard, who dished out 15+ assists twice this past week (March 3, March 6), leads the league in 15-assist performances this season (14) and owns the most in a single season in franchise history (previously Doc Rivers, 1986-87, 12).
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> Through 60 games played so far this season, Young is averaging a league-leading 11.5 assists per game, to go along with 23.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals. In addition to leading the NBA in assists per game, and total assists, he also leads all players in total clutch points (150), assists (36), three-pointers (17) and free throws (63).