An MRI of Trae Young’s right ankle area revealed a bone bruise in his right foot — suffered in a freak accident when he stepped on the foot of a referee during Game 3 — and he is now questionable to play in Game 4 on Tuesday, the team announced Monday.
If Young can play, how effective he would be remains to be seen.
Young injured himself in the third quarter of Game 3 when he stepped back and his foot landed on top of the foot of a referee, who was standing out of bounds. Young’s ankle rolled and he left the game.
Trae Young heads to the locker room with an apparent ankle injury
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 28, 2021
Prayers up 🙏 pic.twitter.com/KqbwUuUHMr
The Hawks’ Young returned to the court and tried to play through his tweaked ankle, but it was clearly slowing him and the injury impacted the end of a game the Bucks won.
If he is out or slowed in Game 4, it will be difficult for Atlanta to find enough offense to overcome the Bucks.
Young is averaging 32.7 points and six assists a game this series, but is shooting 31.4% from three against a physical and long Bucks defense. Atlanta’s offense is 17.8 points per 100 possessions better, and as a team they are +8.7 per 100 when Young is on the court this series.
While there have been complaints from some Hawks fans about the referee and the play, this was just a fluke incident, the official was standing still out of bounds and Young took a step back into him. It was simply unlucky.
