Trae Young set to miss injury-plagued Hawks' rematch with Celtics

The Atlanta Hawks will take on the reigning champion Boston Celtics without three-time All-Star Trae Young. Young is having a strong start to the 2024-25 season, averaging a career-high 11.5 assists to go with 23.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. 

He will miss his first game of the 2024-25 season with what the team.

Young was listed on the Hawks’ pre-gameday injury report as “Out” with “right Achilles tendinitis.”

Young leads the league in total minutes entering play on Monday. He will cede that spot to teammate Jalen Johnson who sits in second place by just one minute. Celtics star Jayson Tatum ranks fourth in minutes behind Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham.

Young is second on the Hawks in on-off differential at plus-11.9, per Cleaning The Glass.

The Hawks went 14-14 without Young in 2023-24. But they had Dejounte Murray to carry them through an extended stretch of that. Without him, the onus is on everyone.

“No more specifics on Trae Young,” “Locked On Hawks” Brad Rowland posted on X on November 11. “He was on the injury report with right Achilles inflammation almost exactly a year ago. For one game. And then he played.

“In his absence, it is all hands on deck. Jalen as lead initiator. Lots of Dyson and Keaton . Etc etc.”

The Hawks also remain without Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter among others.

Bogdanovic is dealing with a hamstring issue while Hunter was initially sidelined with knee inflammation before it was later revealed he welcomed a child and is now out due to personal reasons.

Also missing are projected contributors, Kobe Bufkin and Vit Krejci, leaving the Hawks woefully thin against a strong opponent.

Hawks looking for revenge vs Celtics without Trae Young

The Celtics logged a decisive 123-93 victory in the first meeting with the Hawks of the season.

Young was held to 2 points on 1-for-10 shooting with 3 turnovers in that contest. He was also 0-for-6 from beyond the arc, so it is not like the Hawks are having to overcome a significant loss of production compared to the first meeting.

But Young’s impact on the Hawks’ offense has been as clear as ever this season amid the familiar lulls whenever he goes to the bench.

This is an opportunity for the Hawks to tinker with their non-Trae Young lineups.

They are unsurprisingly underdogs – which they would have been even at full strength – so the pressure is off. This is also an opportunity for players to work through some of their individual issues with little to no expectations for the group in this one.

And Hawks fans can be optimistic that Young will follow a similar pattern as last season. He has been listed on the report this season and still suited up.

That is encouraging.