Of all the players to leave behind a fearless mark in the final seconds of one-score games during 2024-25’s regular season, it was of great irony that one 6-foot-1, 165-pound All-Star stood as the most noticeable. Nestled perfectly within that low-risk, “dream scenario” for crunchtime scorers —heroic with a make, overtime with a miss — Trae Young sends a rainbow-like 50-foot trifecta airborne, ultimately lasering a buzzer-beater that sends the Utah Jazz’s crowd into a confused silence. Young’s game-winner, eventually deemed the sixth-longest in NBA history, came just moments after Collin Sexton’s stepback 3-pointer that left overtime appearing all but inevitable. Long before his walk-off triple with just 2.9 seconds remaining, though, Young made accuracy the name of the game, as he constructed a 24-point, 20-assist masterpiece (on just two turnovers), to go alongside one block and three 3-pointers. No. 1 in points (23) in the final 10 seconds of one-possession games, and No. 4 in Clutch Player of the Year voting by year’s end, “Ice Trae’s” brilliance propelled the Atlanta Hawks to above .500 on January 7, 2025. · Jan 8, 2025