Young may return in G6 against Bucks, Antetokounmpo likely to miss it

Li Xiang

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Trae Young (#11) of the Atlanta Hawks and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. /CFP

Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks may return in Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday as his status for G6 became "questionable" – it means the player has a 50/50 shot to appear or not appear in the game.

Young suffered a sprained ankle after stepping on the foot of referee Sean Wright in Game 3 and quit the competition. He missed the Games 4 and 5 in which the Hawks claimed a victory and a loss.

The Hawks are currently trailing 3-2 in the series and are playing their last home game on Saturday.

Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks sits on the floor after spraining his ankle in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2021. /CFP

"There is hope that, because he is improving from what I'm told, that [Trae Young] will be able to make it a go in Game 6," said Brian Windhorst on ESPN's Get Up.

By contrast, Antetokounmpo, who had a hyperextended left knee in G4 and missed G5, is listed "doubtful" for Saturday's game – meaning he is almost definitely not playing. Considering the Bucks are the leading side, won G5 without Antetokounmpo and are only one win from closing out the Eastern Finals, they can afford to let Antetokounmpo rest for another game.

Both the Hawks and the Bucks managed to get one win without their franchise players. The Hawks' changes were relatively simple. On offense, Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter all made tough shots and exploited transition well. Defensively, the Hawks did not hesitate to close in to protect the rim or to commit foul to interrupt the Bucks' fast break.

Trae Young (C) of the Atlanta Hawks makes a layup in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks at State Farm Arena, June 27, 2021. /CFP

What happened in G4 was exciting and simple, but not easy to repeat. Therefore, the Hawks still need Young to return and take the charge offensively with his scoring explosiveness and orchestrating – if Young is healthy enough to do that.

Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer made more adjustments in G5 to help his team win. He put Bobby Portis in the starting-lineup and destroyed the Hawks paint with the duo tower pair of him and Brook Lopez. Instead of posting up in the low block, the Bucks created many easy cut-in opportunities for the two big men so they could maximize the power of their size and strength without facing trapping.

As a result, the Bucks were rated 128.1 on offense in G5. Moreover, their incredible offensive efficiency was built on the 85.2-percent field goal rate, not the 9-29 triple shooting performance.

Brook Lopez (#11) of the Milwaukee Bucks defends Bogdan Bogdanovic (#13) of the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wiconsin, U.S., July 1, 2021. /CFP

The Bucks' trouble will be on defense. Budenholzer made a very bold decision of switching, instead of closing in, against the Hawks' screen plays. It's true that both Lopez and Portis had several excellent defensive possessions, but there's a good chance for Young to punish the Bucks hard if Budenholzer plays the same old trick again.

The last time the Bucks reached the Finals happened in 1974 and they are one win from doing it again. The Hawks' last Finals appearance took place in 1961 and they need two straight wins to reproduce it.