ATLANTA – In this year’s NBA Eastern Conference finals, waiting to see who’s going to play has become a familiar holding pattern. Nothing has changed with the best-of-seven series between the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks headed back to Georgia for Game 6 on Saturday night.
Milwaukee is up 3-2 and can lock up its first trip to the NBA Finals since 1974. The Hawks, who haven’t made it to the league’s title round since their days in St. Louis six decades ago, must win to force the series back to Wisconsin for a decisive Game 7 on Monday night.
The Phoenix Suns have already locked up the Western Conference crown, earning their first NBA Finals appearance since 1993 by eliminating the Los Angeles Clippers with a Game 6 win Wednesday.
How it all plays in the East out could come down to the medical report.
Hawks star Trae Young has missed two straight games with a bone bruise in his right foot since a freak accident last Sunday, when he stepped on an official’s foot along the sideline in Game 3. The Bucks took the court Thursday for Game 5 without their best player, two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was sidelined after hyperextending his left knee Tuesday in Game 4.