Hawks: Trae Young suffers bone bruise and is questionable for Game 4

The turning point in Game 3 may have been caused by the referees… but not in the way you would typically think. Late in the third quarter, Trae Young was running down the court and stepped on the foot of an official, causing him to twist his ankle. He would head back to the locker room but would eventually return around the eight minute mark in the fourth quarter. However, Young never looked the same.

After scoring 32 points in the first three quarters, Young had just three in the final period and never flipped into attack mode, which is the antithesis of him as a player. It was obvious the ankle was bothering him, and as a result, the Hawks offense took a nosedive in the fourth quarter, scoring just seventeen points. The Bucks would outscore them by 13 in the period, leading to an 11-point loss.

According to the Hawks, Trae Young underwent an MRI earlier today, which revealed a bone bruise in his right foot. He is officially questionable for Game 4. Here’s the entire statement from the team:

Guard Trae Young left last night’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 3 late in the third quarter after sustaining an injury. He was able to return to play in the fourth quarter. An MRI taken earlier today at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex revealed a bone bruise to his right foot. He will be listed as questionable for tomorrow’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 4.

We still don’t know how Young will be feeling ahead of Game 4 tomorrow night, but his teammates seem to believe he will be ready to go for what is essentially a must-win game for the Hawks. John Collins told Sarah K. Spencer of the AJC that Young is disappointed by the loss but is focused on the next game.

I asked John Collins how Trae Young's spirits are doing today:

"He's OK. Obviously not happy about the loss, not happy about stepping on somebody's foot. He's in an OK spot for what's going on, and I feel like he just wants to move on and get ready for next game."

— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) June 28, 2021

Clint Capela told Mike Conti of 92.9 The Game that Young was able to walk today.

Clint Capela says he saw Trae Young today, and says it seemed Trae was able to walk and that he will hopefully be okay.

— Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) June 28, 2021

Knowing Young’s competitive nature, it will have to take some pretty serious damage for him to miss tomorrow’s game. The fact that he is able to walk today is a pretty promising sign that he will be available. However, Nate McMillan said the decision will come down to the doctor’s determination of whether or not Young can damage anything further by playing.

Nate McMillan said this afternoon that the decision on whether or not to play Trae Young will come down to if the medical staff believes he cannot do more damage to his body. McMillan says he'll make that decision tomorrow.

— Mike Conti (@MikeConti929) June 28, 2021

Hopefully, the answer to that question is no, and Young is cleared to play tomorrow. Without him, it’s difficult to imagine the Hawks pulling off the upset. We’ll keep you updated on anything regarding his status for Game 4.