BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Atlanta Hawks star Trae Younger has no points along with his ACL after leaving Wednesday evening’s 117-112 win over the Brooklyn Nets with a proper knee sprain, in keeping with coach Quin Snyder.
“An important factor is it’s not his ACL,” Snyder stated after the sport. “He’s going to get an MRI tonight or tomorrow, and make a dedication from there. Unsure how lengthy or what respect, however one thing he’s hopefully going to be again from each time doable.”
Younger, who entered the evening averaging 20.8 factors and 9.5 assists, was standing beneath the basket when teammate Mouhamed Gueye — after being pushed within the chest by Nets ahead Noah Clowney — fell backward and into Younger’s leg, sending him crashing to the bottom.
Younger was down for some time in ache earlier than he ultimately obtained to his toes and jogged to the bench through the ensuing timeout. He remained within the sport as soon as play resumed, however after seeing Younger on the court docket for a couple of moments, Snyder took him out 17 seconds later. Younger instantly went to the locker room.
“He didn’t need to come out of the sport,” Snyder stated. “He’s such a competitor. He takes numerous delight in being accessible … You noticed it tonight, too. He tried to remain in there. He instructed me, ‘Simply give me a pair minutes,’ and I instructed him, ‘If I don’t like what I see, I’m taking you out.'”
Though it seems Younger has escaped essentially the most severe harm end result, it additionally appears doubtless that the Hawks, who at the moment are 2-3 after avoiding a late collapse to beat the winless Nets (0-5), might be with out their flooring basic for the foreseeable future.
Atlanta got here into the season with excessive expectations following a summer season that noticed the crew commerce for Kristaps Porzingis and signal Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard in free company, however the one factor the Hawks do not need is somebody to interchange Younger’s orchestration on the level.
Atlanta began the second half with Alexander-Walker in Younger’s place, which may give the Hawks a dominant defensive group whereas he’s sidelined. However final season Younger led the NBA with a career-high 11.6 assists per sport, and nobody on the roster is able to single-handedly taking up that creation load in his absence.
In consequence, Snyder stated the group should work collectively if Atlanta goes to outlive with out him.
“Anytime a participant of Trae’s caliber, notably somebody that has the ball and is orchestrating conditions on the offensive finish, that’s an adjustment we needed to make on the fly,” Snyder stated. “Whether or not it was Luke [Kennard] or Nickeil or Dyson [Daniels] or [Jalen Johnson], the important thing factor after we are taking part in that method is all people has obtained to be prepared to play with the cross, and attempt to receive advantages that method.
“It’s one thing we’ll preserve engaged on, relying the place Trae is along with his well being.”
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