We're still in November in the NBA, so awards discussions are largely meaningless, but this year's Rookie of the Year race is already intriguing. There are several top picks who don't play a lot of minutes and some who haven't had many big performances.

The best rookie performance last night was delivered by number 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher. Arguably the least discussed No. 1 pick of all time, Risacher has not been at the forefront of the Rookie of the Year Awards.

Risacher finished last night's game against the Knicks with 33 points on 11-18 shooting and 6-10 from three, while also grabbing seven rebounds, having three steals and not turning the ball over. It was the best performance by a rookie in the NBA this season, against one of the best teams in the NBA.

After his big game, Fanduel named him co-leaders for the NBA Rookie of the Year award along with Grizzlies center Zach Edey. Fanduel has both players at +350 odds and then there is a slight drop to the two Wizards rookies Bub Carrington and Alex Sarr at +650 odds. After that, there is a huge gap to Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht at +2000. It's still very, very early, but Risacher had the best performance of any rookie this season and will be hard to top, even for him.

Risacher wasn't the only player who played well last night. After a slow start, Trae Young finished the game with 23 points and 10 assists. Jalen Johnson flirted with a triple-double, scoring 23 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and dishing out seven assists. It was the trio that carried the Hawks over the finish line and gave them their biggest win of the year.

However, they had to withstand a barrage of threes from the Knicks to make it happen. After a difficult first quarter, New York had a rush of three-pointers that nearly gave them the win. The Knicks were 22-47 through three games (47%) and still lost. Karl-Anthony Towns had a great night with 34 points and 16 rebounds, but they didn't get nearly enough from their star point guard Jalen Brunson, who had 21 points and four assists. It wasn't a bad game from Brunson, but Dyson Daniels made life difficult for him the entire game. Other than Deuce McBride, the Knicks bench had nothing to offer tonight.

Overall, this was an excellent win for the Hawks in a playoff-like atmosphere in November. They hope they can carry this momentum into the upcoming games and pick up some wins.

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Hawks star Trae Young has a message for New York Knicks fans after the Hawks' 121-116 win

SUMMARY: Zaccharie Risacher has a career night as the Hawks defeat the Knicks 121-116