Atlanta Hawks fans finally got to see their team take the court again after two months that seemed to take forever. That is, save for the NBA Draft that saw them land Jalen Johnson of Duke with the 20th overall pick and Sharife Cooper at 48th overall. Then, they traded for Delon Wright and signed Gorgui Dieng in free agency.
Beyond that, it was a lot of waiting.
When they took the court on Monday, it was with one goal. A day earlier, Head Coach Nate McMillan spoke of utilizing the team’s depth to keep guys fresh. He’ll need to lean into that with superstar point guard Trae Young suffering a quad contusion.
The Atlanta Hawks might want to put Trae Young on ice for the rest of the preseason
After the game, Young was asked by Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the injury. He acknowledged that there was pain and some swelling but that he would be okay saying, “I’ll be alright. Trust me.” The injury occurred when he bumped the knee brace of Gabe Vincent of the Miami Heat.
Trae Young went back to the locker room following this play ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/6zKGfivBwR
— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) October 5, 2021
Young noted there was nothing intentional or malicious, and his positive outlook is promising. But this shows just how fine of a line coaches and players are walking trying to balance getting tuned up for the preseason and making through to the regular season healthy.
In the 125-99 blowout, Young and the rest of the starters looked less than crisp on offense, shooting 23.7 percent from deep despite going 4-for-9 in the first quarter.
They followed that by going 2-for-19 from beyond the arc in the second and third quarters.
Young finished with 14 points on 33.3 percent shooting with three assists. He also had four turnovers as the Heat were anticipating his floater and had P.J. Tucker on him for much of the night before Young exited in the third quarter.
McMillan said they had “work to do” following the loss. Their next chance comes at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game that should see more of the younger guys like Cam Reddish and Jalen Johnson, both of whom flashed on Monday. The coach specifically noted that Reddish would play in all four preseason games.
But after seeing Young go out, could we see the bubble wrap come out on the darkhorse preseason MVP candidate?