Young frustrated at not being 100% in J6

ATLANTA – When the Atlanta Hawks’ season came to a close with a 118-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Bring young He walked off the court after the final bell rang and yelled a message to fans. piled up around the tunnel next to the Atlanta bench at State Farm Arena:

“We’ll be back.”

It was a challenging final message from Young, one of the rising stars of these Playoffs, after he finished with 14 points on 4 of 17 shots in 40 minutes on Saturday night on his return to action after not participating in the Games. 4 and 5 with a bone contusion on his right foot and a right ankle sprain.

“I feel like we’ll be back, and I meant it with all my heart,” Young said.

Young, who hadn’t done any on-court work other than testing his foot to try and play before each of the last three games, understandably looked out of breath and didn’t have his usual outburst. But with Atlanta facing elimination with another loss, he did his best to try and extend his team’s season in another game.

“The message [para el equipo] it was without regrets, “said Hawks coach Nate McMillan.” We don’t want to regret it after this game tonight, and we leave everything we have on the court.

“That’s what I saw from Trae. The fact that he hasn’t done anything on the floor since the injury, this was the first time he did anything live on the floor, so he was gassed.

“That was the message. I have no regrets at the end of this game. Empty your tank. I thought this group did.”

Young, who suffered the injuries when he inadvertently stepped on the referee’s foot Sean Wright At the end of the third quarter of Game 3, he said that the bone bruise was located on his heel and that it impacted him every time he tried to push it, either to shoot. a float or attack the edge.

But after testing his foot before Game 6, a process he went through before Games 4 and 5 before deciding he couldn’t play, Young felt good enough to give it a go.

Still, Young was not a factor for most of the first half. He made his first bucket on a float with 4 minutes, 56 seconds left. He then made a strong move through the defense to the rim for an easy layup after being hit with a coach midway through the second for saying too many things to veteran official Eric Lewis.

He was just 2 of 8 overall for five points in the first half, along with two assists and three turnovers. It was a trend that carried over into the second half.

“For me, not being able to be out there for my team for two games, and then tonight just wanting to fight and try to fight as much as I can and try to be out there for my team, it’s definitely frustrating no.” being healthy and not being able to give my full 100 percent, “Young said.

In the end, Young’s teammates weren’t very helpful either. As a team, Atlanta shot just 41.3 percent from the field. Off an impressive shooting performance from the sophomore forward Cam Reddish, who scored 21 points on 6-of-7 shots from 3-point range, the rest of the Hawks hit 6 of 26 from deep.

A cold stretch early in the third quarter, in particular, proved fatal for the Hawks as the Bucks made a 13-2 run to start the second half to open up a 15-point lead.

Atlanta spent the rest of the game trying to take that advantage. The Hawks managed to get to six with 3:41 remaining on a dunk from the Hawks center, Clint Capela. But Milwaukee responded with a tray of Jrue Holiday, a defensive save and a fumble foul on the Hawks that resulted in two free throws from Khris middleton, ending any chance of Atlanta keeping its season alive.