Despite all that has happened this week, Hawks guard Trae Young has focused his attention on Game 3 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs Friday night.
Young announced on social media Thursday the death of his great-grandfather. At Friday’s shootaround, Young said he would not be using it as fuel to compete Friday night.
“I have my own motivations I mean, obviously my grandfather had a great life, long life,” he said. “So, I’m blessed to have known him. So, I’m good. I’m just focused on tonight.”
The Hawks have had the past two days since Tuesday’s loss to the Celtics in Game 2 to go through even more adjustments. They’ve gone over the film, with Hawks coach Quin Snyder, telling reporters that he wants the Hawks, and Young in particular, to continue to be aggressive.
“Sometimes a look from 3 is the best look you’re gonna get,” Snyder said. “I want Trae to be aggressive. He knows that. He’s been in here the last couple of days taking shots, as have all our guys. You want to have a mixture, you know, with your shot profile.
“But there’s also a reason we took as many 3′s as we did last game. And you know, you watch the film, and some of them are shots that we’ve made consistently. So I don’t want us to be deterred by the ball not going in and stop having that aggressive mindset. And Trae in particular.”
Young hasn’t had the best outings in the postseason, despite averaging 20 points, seven assists and two steals between the two games in the series. Those outings have come on some inefficient performances, with Young shooting only 35% from the field and 23% on 3-point shots.
That follows a recent playoff trend for Young, in which he has shot 17.5% on 3-point shots on 7.1 attempts per game since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2021.
But Young is confident in his ability to break out of this slump. Following Game 2, he promised that he would shoot the ball better when the team returned to State Farm Arena for Game 3.
He reiterated that sentiment at Friday morning’s shootaround, armed with the knowledge that the Hawks have come up with some ways to help the team be more aggressive.
“We’ve gotten some new sets and things like that to give me some better positions and more attack position,” Young said. “But, I mean, we’re still trying to learn a new offense and different flows and how to push the pace. And with (the Celtics), I mean, they’re a really good defensive team, if you let them get back and set up. So we’re trying to push the pace and go a little faster for sure.”
In the first two games, the Celtics looked to shut Young down as much as they could by trapping him down low when he tried to get to the rim. Up top, they cut off the Hawks’ ability to effectively run the pick and roll, and the Hawks had some trouble readjusting the spacing.
The Celtics ended up dictating some of the Hawks’ shot selection, which resulted in early turnovers. The Hawks were then slow to get back in transition, and the Celtics made them pay for it.
The Hawks, and Young in particular, know that they’ll have to be sharp against the Celtics if they look to extend their stay in the postseason. They already trail the Celtics 2-0, and they know they’ll have to limit their mistakes.
“You got to limit your mistakes as much as possible,” Young said. “I mean, starting with me, I gotta be better taking care of the ball, and I will be, but I think that I mean, it’s a good team. You got to limit your mistakes.”
Young’s teammates have rallied around him in what has been a tough week for him. On Wednesday, Young’s backcourt partner, Dejounte Murray, encouraged him to stay confident and leave the outside noise outside.
“I texted him when we got home,” Murray said. “I just told him, ‘Be yourself, play the game you want to play, and play it at a high level like you’re used to doing.’”
Hawks center Clint Capela said something similar and that the team has empathized with Young.
“Yeah, just we were supporting him, you know, behind him,” Capela said. “We know that stuff really hard. It happens to everybody, and it’s hard and we need him. So I know that he’s preparing himself to be ready tonight. And he knows what he has to do.”
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