Knicks eliminated from NBA Cup with all-around ugly loss to Trae Young, Hawks

The Knicks weren’t ready for the adult trip.

Tom Thibodeau’s H๏τ-and-cold squad went frozen in a 108-100 loss to the Hawks and was eliminated from the NBA Cup quarterfinals as nemesis Trae Young again taunted his favorite arena.

Instead of heading to Sin City for the semis, the Knicks next travel to Mickey Mouse territory — Orlando — to face the Magic on Sunday.

They deserve the kiddie rides after Wednesday’s dud at MSG, where Young sent a reminder of his more mature destination at the final buzzer.

The Hawks guard mimicked rolling dice at half-court as he dribbled out the clock, a celebration he said was planned days earlier with his brother.

“I knew what I was going to do,” said Young, who finished with 22 points and 11 ᴀssists as Knicks fans chanted the familiar, profane, “F–k, Trae Young,” at different points during the game. “We’re going to Vegas, so that’s what I was going to do.

“If I was going to be taken out of the game, I would have done it before.”

So the Knicks (15-10) were embarrᴀssed by Young, outrebounded, outhustled and perpetually more obsessed with the referees than their own struggles.

The Hawks (14-12), who next face the Bucks in the NBA Cup semis in Vegas, pounced in the second half and wore down the lackluster Knicks on the glᴀss.

“I want to take a look at the film,” Thibodeau said. “They’re a very good offensive rebounding team. We knew that going in. I think we were plus-2 at the half [in rebounding]. The third quarter was a problem.

“And they erased the deficit they had. And that went quickly. And then our energy dipped. And it can’t dip. Missed sH๏τs are a part of the game. We just got to keep fighting. Win with your defense, your rebounding. We had a couple of turnovers. That was a problem as well.”

Jalen Brunson managed just 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting and was locked up by Dyson Daniels, a budding All-Defense candidate who hounded and cut off New York’s point guard at every pivot.

The Knicks sH๏τ just 26 percent on treys, 60 percent on foul sH๏τs and allowed 22 offensive rebounds, exemplified by a five-sH๏τ Atlanta possession in the fourth quarter.

“Finishing possessions defensively [was a problem],” Brunson said. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds. Just unacceptable.”

The defeat cost each Knicks player over $50,000 in prize money they would’ve received for reaching the semifinal, which would’ve been added to the $50,000 they got as quarterfinalists.

The Hawks get that money and apparently Young is a fan of craps. He explained his whole elaborate taunting routine.

“I rolled an eight. And then I picked it up,” Young said after he kneeled near the logo to pantomime a dice game. “And then I rolled it again. So I picked up the money after that and we left.”

The Knicks controlled the first half amid Atlanta’s shooting struggles but could never create enough separation to feel comfortable.

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