The Atlanta Hawks can’t overlook the Milwaukee Bucks even if Giannis sits

Much has been made over the years about the importance of teams winning Game 5 in a best-of-seven series and it’s no different for the Atlanta Hawks. There are several trends the Hawks must be mindful of in Game 5 and one more is apparently becoming more of a reality. That is that Giannis Antetokounmpo is doubtful with the hyperextended knee suffered last game.

It came on the heels of the Hawks own superstar, Trae Young, suffering a bone bruise in Game 3. Both players suffered their injuries in the third quarter of their respective games.

We saw what the Hawks can do without Young in Game 4 and the Bucks would be wise to take notes. The victory brought their record without Young this season to 6-4 and 2-1 against the Bucks. Atlanta has averaged 105 points per contest in those 10 games.

The Atlanta Hawks can’t afford to take the Milwaukee Bucks lightly in Game 5 even without their best player

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Milwaukee would be playing its 12th game without Antetokounmpo this season, but first in the playoffs. In their previous 11 outings without him, they’ve averaged over 116 points.

That would seem to be foreboding for the Hawks but the Bucks faced four playoff teams in those games and went 1-3. Atlanta wasn’t much better at, now, 2-2. But those two wins came against Milwaukee.

Just be warned, the wins came at State Farm Arena.

On top of all of that, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton have both gone off for over 30 points in this series, though Cam Reddish put a damper on that in Game 4 with a lights-out two-way effort.

They will have the benefit of playing at home too. That means they should get ample support from role players like Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. There is still ample talent on this team.

Especially if there’s a feeling any absence by Antetikounmpo could be short-lived, the expectation should be for Holiday and Middleton to be very aggressive early as they try to jump out to a sizeable lead early so they can rely on their typically superior defense to help them survive for Game 5.

The Hawks greatest challenge will be to not get lulled into a false sense of security because Giannis is hobbled or out. These Bucks still can and will score in bunches.

With an also-hobbled (at best) Trae Young, playing catch-up has to be out of the question. They’ll need to rely on the kind of ball movement that helped them win Game 4, but Young is only shooting 21 percent on catch-and-shoot opportunities.

Atlanta will need to find that balance with Young in his current state. Should he play and if it becomes apartment early that it’s just not there, pull the plug on him for Game 5.