The Atlanta Hawks’ joyous season came to an end Saturday night after losing Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks 118-107.
Cam Reddish led the Hawks with a team-high 21 points in just his fourth game back after a four-month absence. He made six of his seven threes and was instrumental in the team’s fourth-quarter run that saw Atlanta cut a 22 point lead to just six with 3:41 left in the game.
Bogdan Bogdanovic followed up a 26-point performance in Game 5 with 20. Clint Capela finished with 14 points and nine rebounds and John Collins contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Huerter struggled in 27 minutes with five points on 2-10 shooting––his -22 net rating was the worst of any player.
After missing two games with a bone bruise on his right foot, Trae Young finished with 16 points and nine assists but also needed 17 shots and coughed the ball up five times. He mentioned being rusty and not feeling 100% during the game. He hadn’t participated in any physical activity in six days after stepping on a referee’s foot in Game 3.
“Not being able to be out there for my team for two games, and then tonight just wanting to battle and try to fight through it as much as I could and try to be out there for my team it;’s definitely frustrating not being healthy and not being able to give my full 100 percent,” Young said.
Even without Young healthy, the Hawks only trailed Milwaukee by four points at halftime.
Then, Khris Middleton scored 23 of his 32 points in a game-changing, 44-point third quarter for Milwaukee. At one point, he scored 16 straight from the 11:07 to 8:23 marks in the quarter. Jrue Holiday finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Middleton and Holiday were the only two players who played 40+ minutes on Saturday night.
Milwaukee will face the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals, with Game 1 on Tuesday night from Phoenix.
