MILWAUKEE – Trae Young and the inexperienced Atlanta Hawks don’t seem to be feeling any postseason pressure during these NBA playoffs.
They are loose and confident. They don’t get rattled. They are 4-0 in postseason games decided by three or fewer points, and they’re 6-1 when the margin is seven or fewer.
“When you have a group that really believes in each other and really is fighting on the court for each other, anything can happen,” Young, the team’s 22-year-old star point guard, said Wednesday night after the fifth-seeded Hawks’ 116-113 road win against the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks to tip off the Eastern Conference title series. “I think our team really believes that, and it’s been working.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is at 8:30 p.m. Friday in Milwaukee, with TNT televising the matchup. The Hawks are 6-2 in playoff road games this year as they chase the franchise’s first title since 1958, when it was still in St. Louis.
Young’s 48-point performance Wednesday was the second-highest total in a playoff game in franchise history, behind Dominique Wilkins’ 50 in Game 2 of a 1986 first-round series triumph over the Detroit Pistons. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Young was the first player ever to have at least 45 points and 10 assists in a conference finals game.
He’s doing it with flair and ease, relishing his moment to break out as a star for not only Atlanta but the league, showcasing his skills in front of national television audiences who hadn’t seen much of the Hawks before the playoffs.
After faking out Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday on a crossover late in the third quarter to leave himself wide open behind the 3-point arc, Young paused and did a little shimmy before making his shot. Also in the third quarter, Young set up teammate John Collins for a dunk with a pass off the backboard.
“I’ve seen a lot of players just retreat whenever they get on this stage,” said Hawks center Clint Capela, who reached the Western Conference title series with the Houston Rockets in 2015 and 2018. “What I see from him is so much confidence – fearless, attacking again and again. It’s really contagious on our team.”
The Hawks’ relative lack of postseason experience hasn’t hurt them at all. Without being weighed down by expectations or memories of previous playoff disappointments, they are playing their best when games are on the line.
Atlanta’s knack for winning close matchups started soon after the Hawks fired coach Lloyd Pierce and replaced him with Nate McMillan on an interim basis.
Under Pierce, the Hawks were 1-6 in games that were decided by no more than five points or went into overtime. After McMillan’s promotion, the Hawks finished the regular season by going 8-2 in games that fit that profile.
The trend has continued in the postseason.
Hawks reserve forward Solomon Hill was part of the Miami Heat team that won the East as a No. 5 seed last year. Hill said the Hawks are thriving with the same underdog mentality that drove the Heat.
“That was one thing that was huge about Miami,” Hill said Thursday. “The belief in ourselves was greater than anybody else’s belief in us. There was nobody that wanted to win it more than the guys in the locker room. It showed with sacrifices. It showed with hard work. It showed with the hustle mentality that we had. And that’s the same thing showing up here.”
The Hawks are doing this at far less than full strength.
Bogdan Bogdanovic is playing with a sore right knee that has limited his effectiveness. Cam Reddish is back from an Achilles’ tendon injury that knocked him out for four months, but the Hawks plan to work him in slowly after such a long layoff. De’Andre Hunter is out for the remainder of the postseason after undergoing knee surgery.
Atlanta has been able to withstand those injuries, rolling past the fourth-seeded New York Knicks in six games and the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in seven to meet Milwaukee.
Young has been the catalyst. Even when he isn’t shooting well, he continues to have an impact. He controls the tempo of the game, gets to the foul line and keeps teammates involved.
“Ever since I was in middle school, when I was going on the road in middle school, I always loved playing on the road,” said Young, who was two points off his career high Wednesday night. “I loved playing against an opposing crowd, an opposing team. It feels like you’re really with your team, and it’s just them in the building. I think that really brings our group together.”
The Hawks have adopted his boldness and fearlessness, earning road wins in the series opener in each of the first three rounds of these playoffs.
“Everyone seems fearless on this stage,” Hawks guard Kevin Huerter said. “And he’s obviously the ringleader of that.”
The No. 5 overall draft pick in 2018, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Young and his teammates have withstood their playoff opponents’ efforts to use physical play to wear them down.
“It’s special,” Young said. “I wanted to achieve things like this when I was a rookie. Coming in as a rookie, you don’t know how hard it is until you’ve got to actually do it.”