The Atlanta Hawks' playoff push just hit a major snag as All-Star point guard Trae Young is set to miss several weeks due to a torn ligament in his left pinkie finger, the team announced. Young, who has led the team with 26.4 points and 10.8 assists per game, was injured during a recent loss to Toronto. He's scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, as per a statement released by the Hawks, which has been reported by Atlanta News First.
With the Hawks scrapping for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference, this injury could not have come at a worse time. According to Atlanta News First, Young is set to be re-evaluated in four weeks, a timeline that forces the team to hastily reassemble its game plan without their linchpin player. "You feel awful for Trae more than anything," Hawks coach Quin Snyder told AP News. "It is going to be a challenge for him not to be out there."
The team is already coping with the absence of center Onyeka Okongwu, who is dealing with a sprained left toe and, according to Snyder, is "not going to be available for the foreseeable future." In response to losing other key players, Snyder said, "You have to adapt," during a statement obtained by Atlanta News First. The team is likely to rely more on players like Kobe Bufkin and Patty Mills in the coming weeks.
With Young out, Dejounte Murray will likely take over the primary ball-handling duties, while Bogdan Bogdanovic, averaging 16.8 points as a reservist, stepped into Young's starting role in their latest game against Orlando. "This will be fluid. If Boji starts, we lose his punch off the bench," Snyder explained to AP News. "Do you want him stabilizing the second unit? There's a lot of things that go into it. We will approach it that way." The Hawks have previously gone 2-3 in games without Young this season, a record that the team is now under pressure to improve upon.
