Perhaps lost in the shuffle of Harden’s snapped scoring streak, Trae Young put up 36 points and eight assists in a battle against the Rockets. Houston emerged with the win, 119-111, but Young has been showing just how special he can be in this league of late.

Since the All-Star break, Young has been averaging nearly 30 points and nine assists per game. Most impressive to Paul is Young’s passing ability, which can be overlooked when he is scoring at such a high clip.

“You’ve got to look at his passing because I think that’s the best part of his game. The guy can go out and put up 10-plus assists. He can score the ball,” Pierce said, “but I think his passing ability is very underrated.”