Oh, Trae Young, you sweet, sweet superstar. What have you done?

Let’s set the stage. The Atlanta Hawks entered Tuesday’s game against the Miami Heat a disappointing 6-17 — disappointing not because the Hawks are supposed to be good, but because improvement is not really apparent on the team beyond Trae Young himself. Atlanta recently came off a 10-game losing streak that included four 20-point losses, two of which were by at least 47 points. Kevin Huerter has been hurt. John Collins is suspended for PEDs. Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter have not been top rookies. The Hawks hadn’t had a win over a good team in a month, when they beat the Nuggets on Nov. 12.

With the Hawks up 115-111 with a minute left, Young threaded a gorgeous pass to an open Alex Len for a dunk, putting Atlanta up six with 59 seconds left. It’s Young’s ninth assist. He celebrates, saying “It’s over” and doing the hand motions a la Vince Carter in the dunk contest.

Absolute basketball chess from Trae Young. pic.twitter.com/O4cAAK5qhR — FOX Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnFSSE) December 11, 2019

You know, of course, by the fact that I’m writing about it that it was not in fact over.

In the next 30 seconds, Duncan Robinson and Jimmy Butler drained back to back threes to tie the game. The Heat trapped Young when he got the ball in the final minute, and his teammates couldn’t hit shots. Overtime. The Heat scored the first 16 points of the extra frame. Ballgame.

How did Trae react after the game? With a “Welp” and some FML emojis, of course.

....Welp ‍♂️ — Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) December 11, 2019

Jimmy Butler rubbed it in on Instagram, as well.

Never change, NBA. Never change.

Sign up for the newsletter Good Morning It’s Basketball NBA news and links delivered to your inbox each weekday, so you never miss out. Email (required) By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. Subscribe

Scores

Wizards 107, Hornets 114

Nuggets 92, Sixers 97

Hawks 121, Heat 135 (OT)

Knicks 87, Blazers 115

Schedule

All times ET. Games on League Pass unless otherwise noted.

Rockets at Cavaliers, 7 p.m.

Celtics at Pacers, 7 p.m.

Lakers at Magic, 7 p.m.

Clippers at Raptors, 7 p.m., ESPN

Hornets at Nets, 7:30 p.m.

Hawks at Bulls, 8 p.m.

Jazz at Wolves, 8 p.m.

Grizzlies at Suns, 9 p.m.

Pelicans at Bucks, 9:30 p.m., ESPN

Thunder at Kings, 10 p.m.

Knicks at Warriors, 10:30 p.m.

Links

Gorgeous first-person essay by Damian Lillard on growing up in Oakland. His brother Houston is HILARIOUS. What an essay.

Paul Flannery on Jaylen Brown AND Jayson Tatum proving they can be franchise players.

Mike Prada breaks down how LeBron’s genius passing is solving all of the problems the Lakers would seem to have on paper.

RIcky O’Donnell on how perfect Monty Williams is for the Suns.

Kawhi Leonard returns to Toronto on Wednesday as the Clippers play the Raptors. The Yahoo Sports Canada team has a roundtable on Kawhi’s impact and aftermath in Toronto.

Howard Beck reports that Masai Ujiri rejected a high-dollar extension last summer and might be intrigued by the Knicks job, in part to elevate the profile of his philanthropy work in Africa. Masai, for the love of Bargnani, don’t do it, it’s a trap.

Paige Bueckers is a basketball prospect who does insane things with the ball.

Zach Lowe on teams relentlessly trapping James Harden ... and whether it’s working.

Supporting Bright Side Night — where fans send thousands of disadvantaged kids in Arizona to a Suns game — is always a good thing.

Seerat Sohi on why the Heat are a natural fit for Jimmy Butler.

Admission time: I have watched approximately 30 times as much FUMBLE DIMENSION as I have NFL football this season. Jon Bois and Kofie Yeboah are geniuses.

There is little better than a totally defeated play-by-play announcer when the other team hits a game-winner. The human condition distilled.

Knicks vs. Warriors tank-off on Wednesday. I’m shocked this isn’t a national TV game, to be honest.

Kevin O’Connor’s trade season primer.

Be excellent to each other.