Hawks' Trae Young Had to 'Find a Way' to Play Through Shooting Struggles in Game 7
If someone told Atlanta Hawks fans their team would win a Game 7 on the road over the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers while Trae Young shot 5-of-23 from the field, they surely wouldn't have believed it.
Yet, that's exactly what happened Sunday as Atlanta advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 103-96 victory.
To Young's credit, he dished out 10 assists and drilled a long three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to push his team's lead to six. He also gave the Hawks the lead at one point in that final quarter with one of his trademark floaters and played better down the stretch with the game hanging in the balance.
"I know I just have to find a way," Young said afterward. "My shot was off tonight. My right hand and my shoulders … I was trying to fight through it and push through it. And shots just weren't going tonight, but my teammates showed up and made plays. Me, I just tried to find them."
Young has been playing through a right shoulder injury and wraps it up when he is sidelined.
Given his struggles—and those of starting backcourt mate Bogdan Bogdanovic, who went 2-of-8 from the floor and 0-of-4 from three in 21 minutes—Atlanta wouldn't have prevailed without the efforts of Kevin Huerter, John Collins and Danilo Gallinari.
Huerter led the team in scoring with 27 points and converted three critical free throws in the final minute to push the lead to four. Collins battled inside against Joel Embiid and Philadelphia's frontcourt and ended up with 14 points and 16 rebounds. And Gallinari made a number of important offensive plays on his way to 17 points while also forcing an Embiid turnover at a critical juncture.
The Hawks have an array of proven scorers with Collins, Bogdanovic, Huerter, Gallinari, Lou Williams and even Clint Capela inside on lobs, but versus a well-rounded Milwaukee Bucks team in the Eastern Conference Finals, you'd figure Young would need to be more efficient for the Hawks to shock the basketball world and reach the Finals.
