After being embarrassed by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second game of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup, the Atlanta Hawks hosted the Bucks at State Farm Arena. The Hawks came up a little short in defending their home court. Nate McMillan conceding the game with 51 seconds left by sitting the injured Trae Young.
However, there was plenty to like about Young’s game prior to injuring his ankle on the ref’s foot. Now Young is getting an MRI. If he does not play in the fourth game of the series, there is going to be a lot made of that one instant of the game.
Before that moment, Young had 35 points, four assists, and a steal. On the night he hit 12-of-23 from the floor, 6-of-14 from beyond the arc, and 5-of-6 from the line. His floater was deadly, and he hit a 35 footer, and a logo 3-point shot. To put it simply he was huge
The Atlanta Hawks were in front when Trae Young was rolling
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Young promised that he would be better in this game, and he certainly was. He took responsibility for the loss last game and set about turning it around. The rest of the team feeds off his offensive energy, Kevin Huerter benefits from the extra space Young creates due to his excellent shooting.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Hawks were not at their best when Young was off the court, the offense ground to a halt. There were a few brief moments where Lou Williams sparked a run, helped by Onyeka Okongwu but it was not enough.
Young was not the same where he hit came back from the locker room. He missed a layup, and open 3-point shots. On top of that, he was not able to explode off his injured foot the way that normally can to break away from the defense.
However, despite the last period where he was physically incapable of being himself, thanks to the injury, Young delivered on his promise that he would be better. Let’s hope for the sake of the Hawks and the series that Young can play in the next game and produce at similar levels.