Update, Game 6 — According to Malika Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski, Young will play in Game 6.
Update, Game 6 — Head coach Nate McMillan says Young is a game-time decision. Young went through a warm-up routine ahead of Game 5 to test his bone bruise out, but ultimately didn’t take part in the game. The star guard will wait until the last moment to make that decision in an elimination game for Atlanta.
Update, Game 6 — Young is being listed as questionable to play in Game 6 vs. the Bucks on Saturday. The Hawks trail the Bucks 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals, so there’s a chance Trae gets back from a bone bruise in his foot in time to save the season.
Update, Game 5 — According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews, Young will miss Game 5 due to a bone bruise in his right foot. Young previously missed Game 4 due to the injury and will continue to rehab ahead of Game 6. The series will go to Atlanta no matter what the outcome of Game 5 is, so Young feels comfortable missing another contest to get closer to 100 percent.
Update, Game 5 — The Hawks announced that Trae Young is questionable for Thursday’s Game 5 contest against the Bucks. Atlanta managed to even up their series with Milwaukee on Tuesday, winning 110-88. The series is headed back to Milwaukee for Game 5.
Update, Game 4 — In a shocking development, ESPN is reporting that Trae Young has been ruled out for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Bucks on Tuesday night. This may be the end of the line for the Hawks’ playoff run. The Bucks enter Game 4 up 2-1 in the series and now the Hawks will be without their star player. Milwaukee entered this evening as 7-point favorites in Game 4 and that was before the Young news. Expect a whomping by the Bucks tonight. Atlanta has been resilient and scrappy this postseason but its hard envisioning the Hawks staying in this game without Trae.
Reporting with @Malika_Andrews: Hawks star Trae Young is out for Game 4 vs. Bucks with a deep bone bruise in his right foot. Young exhausted every avenue to try and find a way to return to play, but a severe lack of mobility and significant degree of pain made it impossible.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2021
Atlanta Hawks PG Trae Young will be listed as questionable to play in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday due to a bone bruise in his right foot. Young stepped on an officials foot in the third quarter of Game 3 vs. the Bucks on Sunday night and was forced to go to the locker room. He was able to return in the fourth quarter, but the foot was noticeably bothering Young down the stretch. The Hawks ended up dropping Game 3 113-102 and are down 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.
The Hawks may be in trouble even if Young is able to play in Game 4. He had to carry the team to open the series, scoring a playoff career-high 48 points in Game 1. He was bottled up in Game 2, only scoring 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting in a blowout loss. In Game 3, Young got off to a hot start, but didn’t get much help from John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter. Young had 35 points in the loss, but only scored 3 points in the fourth quarter.
It’s hard to see this injury holding Young out of such a huge game on Tuesday night. If the Hawks go down 3-1, the series shifts back to Milwaukee where the Bucks can close things out pretty easily. Atlanta is in must-win territory in Game 4, needing to tie the series up before having to steal a game on the road to somehow advance to the NBA Finals. As of this morning, the Bucks were -2000 to win the series and advance to the Finals. The Hawks are +900 and this news may shift the line even more.
Right now, the Bucks are favored by 6 points heading into Game 4 on the road. This number may also move a few points. The Hawks have been resilient these playoffs, so it’s tough to count them out entirely. But after Game 3, you sort of have a sense the Bucks can smell blood in the water and are going to go for the kill, not wanting to have to come back to ATL for Game 6 over the holiday weekend.