Trae Young's Final Playing Status Announced for Tonight's Game vs New York

Young was added to the injury report earlier today, but he has been cleared to play tonight vs the Knicks

Dec 26, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) points to teammates during the game against the Miami Heat during the third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Hawks are riding a five game losing streak and have lost nine of their last eleven games heading into tonight's game against the New York Knicks. New York meanwhile is 2.5 games out of first place in the Eastern Conference and coming off a Christmas Day victory against the Cavaliers. This is the first meeting between these two teams and they usually play very high level games when they get together.

For Atlanta, they are just looking to get anything going to snap out of this losing streak. In the month of December, the Hawks defense has collapsed and has become one of the worst in the NBA. This team has been trending in the wrong way the entire month and could use a win as much as any team in the league.

After being added to the injury report earlier today with a right quad contusion, the Hawks have announced that Trae Young is available to play tonight vs the Knicks. This is significant, as this is the first back-to-back that Young has played since coming back from his knee injury.

An @emoryhealthcare injury report for tonight’s game vs. New York:

Trae Young (right quad contusion): Available

N’Faly Dante (right knee, torn ACL): Out
Kristaps Porzingis (illness): Out pic.twitter.com/fReodmplAK

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 27, 2025

How will this game play out?

Dec 23, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) talks to Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) during the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

The Hawks are coming off one of their worst offensive performances of the year and they are going to have to be much better on that end of the floor tonight vs New York.

They are 12th in points, 7th in FG%, 6th in 3P%, 13th in FT%, 25th in rebounds (27th in OREB, 20th in DREB), 1st in assists, and 21st in turnovers per game. They're 15th in offensive rating this year.

As I said earlier, the Hawks defense has been a disaster for a month now. The Hawks' defense ranks 24th in points allowed, 23rd in FG% allowed, 16th in 3P% allowed, 23rd in rebounds allowed, 4th in steals, and 13th in blocks. They're 18th in defensive rating on the year.

The Knicks are one of the best teams in the NBA and the numbers bear that out. They are 5th in points, 9th in FG%, 4th in 3P%, 11th in FT%, 3rd in rebounds (4th in OREB and 15th in DREB), 11th in assists, and 4th in turnovers. They are 4th in offensive rating.

New York is 8th in PPG allowed, 8th in FG% allowed, 21st in 3P% allowed, 5th in rebounds allowed, and 15th in turnovers. They are 14th in defensive rating this season.