Trae Young Explodes for 48, Leads Hawks to Game 1 Win [VIDEO]
MILWAUKEE -- Trae Young shook free from Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday, one of the NBA's best defenders, and found himself with acres of space between himself and Bucks forward Bobby Portis.
And then the superstar guard for the Atlanta Hawks, with more time than he knew what to do with, decided to do a little shimmy before he let a 3-pointer fly, like so many of Young's other shots in the Hawks' 116-113 win in Wednesday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, that softly settled into the bottom of the net.
Young, who finished with 48 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists in 41 minutes.
That Atlanta has made it this far has surprised practically everyone. That it has become only the fourth team in NBA history to win three Game 1s on the road in the playoffs, according to ESPN Stats & Information research -- joining a group that includes the 1999 New York Knicks, 1989 Chicago Bulls and 1981 Houston Rockets -- is truly stunning.
"It's not easy [to win]," Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said, after finishing with 34 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. "Never gets easy.
"At the end of the day, we got to come and do our job. We got to be better."
The Hawks have now forced that same reaction from three straight opponents in these playoffs. As a result, they now have a lead in these Eastern Conference finals.