Hawks guard Trae Young is out for Tuesday’s Game 4 vs. the Bucks because of a bone bruise in his right foot.
Lou Williams will start in Young’s stead, alongside Kevin Huerter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, John Collins and Clint Capela.
Losing Young is an extremely tough break for the Hawks, who have caught the injury bug again at the worst possible time of the season, down 2-1 to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference finals entering Tuesday. Young sustained the bone bruise Sunday in Game 3 when he took a step backward and landed on a referee’s foot, coming down awkwardly on it.
Young has enjoyed a sensational first playoff run, helping the Hawks turn a 14-20 start (and 20-47 record last season) into demolishing the Knicks in the first round, knocking off the No. 1-seed 76ers in the second and now battling the Bucks in the conference finals. He has averaged 29.8 points and 9.5 assists in 15 playoff games.
In the fourth quarter of Game 3, Young came back in after his foot injury and tried to play through it, but he certainly didn’t look like his normal, agile self, clearly limited by the pain.
The Hawks obviously will miss his scoring and playmaking. They did beat the Bucks without Young (and De’Andre Hunter) in the regular season April 25, when Lou Williams and Bogdanovic caught fire from 3-point range, leading to a 40-point fourth quarter and stellar comeback.
But, Young isn’t the only Hawk who is struggling with injuries, as Bogdanovic is playing through right knee soreness, Hunter is out after undergoing right meniscus surgery, Brandon Goodwin is out with a minor respiratory condition and Cam Reddish isn’t really in the rotation after missing nearly four months with right Achilles soreness.
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