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Tim BontempsESPN
MILWAUKEE — The Atlanta Hawks will once again be without superstar guard Trae Young for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals because of a bone bruise in his right foot.
Young was a game-time decision again on Thursday night. But, like prior to Game 4 Tuesday night in Atlanta, after testing the injury out before the game, Hawks coach Nate McMillan said that Young didn’t feel comfortable enough on the foot to play.
Young suffered the injury when stepping on the foot of referee Sean Wright late in the third quarter of Game 3. The third-year star is averaging 29.8 points and 9.5 assists in his first postseason appearance and 32.7 point in this series.
Young will continue to rehab with hopes of playing in Game 6 on Saturday in Atlanta.
Atlanta will be hoping to get a similar level of production from its supporting cast in Young’s absence that it received in Game 4, when the Hawks shot over 50 percent from the field and played their best defensive game of the series to hold down the Bucks and even this series at two games apiece.
Young’s replacement in the starting lineup, Lou Williams, scored 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting in 35 minutes off the bench, while Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points and hit 6 3-pointers after scoring a combined 20 points over the first three games of the series.
Hawks center Clint Capela is slated to start for Atlanta after being listed as questionable with right eye inflammation.
Capela is dealing with the after-effects of catching an inadvertent elbow to the face from Bucks reserve guard Sam Merrill in the fourth quarter of Atlanta’s Game 4 victory while the two of them were going after a rebound. He left the court with a towel pressed to his right eye, and was examined by the team’s ophthalmologist both after Tuesday’s game and again on Wednesday.
Capela is averaging 10.1 points and 11.5 rebounds in the playoffs after leading the NBA in rebounds per game (14.3) in the regular season.