Trae Young scores 48 as Hawks stun Bucks in Game 1
The Milwaukee Bucks finally figured out a way to slow down Trae Young on Wednesday night. They’d love to carry it over into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals tonight.
Only one problem: It cost them Game 1. Harassed by a smaller, quicker version of a Milwaukee defense that he thrashed earlier, Young misfired on a short-range shot with a chance to put Atlanta ahead in the final minute during the opener of the best-of-seven series.
However, smaller on the perimeter also meant smaller at the hoop, and Atlanta big man Clint Capela converted an offensive rebound into a layup with 29.8 seconds left that gave the visiting Hawks a lead they never relinquished in a 116-113 stunner.
Young went for a postseason-careerhigh 48 points and the underdog Hawks held the third-seeded Bucks without a field goal over the final 2:08, resulting in fifth-seeded Atlanta’s third straight win in
With top seed Ash Barty and defending champion Simona Halep both heading into Wimbledon without a single match on grass this season after recent injury concerns, the women’s field is wide open.
The French Open this month crowned a first-time women’s major winner for the sixth straight year and it could well be Wimbledon’s turn to witness a new Grand Slam champion on July 10 for the first time since France’s Marion Bartoli lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish in 2013.
Top-ranked Barty, who picks grass as her favourite surface despite winning her maiden major on Parisian clay in 2019, retired from her last two tournaments but more worryingly for the Australian those were due to different physical ailments.
The 25-year-old’s Roland Garros campaign was curtailed in the second round when she had to retire due to a hip injury she suffered in training while a muscle strain in her serving arm forced her to quit during the quarter-finals in Rome.
Halep was denied a chance to defend her 2019 title when Wimbledon was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a pall of injury worry will hang over the second-seeded Romanian when she starts her campaign next week.
Like Barty, Halep also exited the WTA 1000 event in Rome midway after suffering a calf injury during her second-round outing against Angelique Kerber and was subsequently forced to miss the French Open.
With injury worries to the top two seeds and world number two Naomi Osaka also missing in action after skipping Wimbledon following her withdrawal from Roland Garros over mental health issues, a new set of challengers could stake their claim.
FREAK FALL
Petra Kvitova, another proven contender on grass and a two-time a playoff-series opener this season.
Afterward, Young had a message for the Bucks: They’re not facing Kevin Durant and the one-dimensional Brooklyn Nets anymore.
“They got some good players over there, a lot of lottery people,” the thirdyear guard said of the Bucks. “We got weapons, too.”
On a night when Young shot 17-for-34, he found time for a game-high 11 assists to get Capela and John Collins involved. They each posted a double-double, Capela with 12 points and a game-high 19 rebounds, Collins with 23 points and 15 boards. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points to complement a team-high 12 rebounds plus nine assists, and Jrue Holiday poured in 33 points to go with a team-high 10 assists for the Bucks, who had gone 5-0 at home in their previous two series. Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer admitted afterward he and his staff spent much of the night trying to
Wimbledon Champion, also injured her ankle at Roland Garros in a freak fall while performing her post-match media duties, resulting in a second-round walkover.
The decision of the French Open organisers to delay the claycourt major by a week has also left players with little time to switch their game for grass ahead of Wimbledon.
With no standout favourite in the women’s field, it could provide an ideal stage for American Serena Williams to finally end her quest for an elusive 24th Grand Slam title.
Since winning the 2017 Australian Open, Williams has stayed in the hunt by reaching four major finals but has failed to win the title that would see her match Margaret Court’s record haul.
“If ever the field was at its most vulnerable, I would think it would be this year with the injuries, with the lack of grass court practice,” ESPN tennis analyst Chris Evert, an 18-times Grand Slam singles champion, said.
“This is to me her (Williams) golden opportunity.” Williams has come within one win of a 24th major title the last two times Wimbledon has been held but fell lost both finals - to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and Halep the following year.
The Australian Open and the Wimbledon remain Williams’ happiest hunting grounds with seven titles each.
The American’s long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou believes grass amplifies Williams’ strong points as a player and the shorter points on the surface also poses a lesser challenge for her physical fitness.
“She will always have more chances to win on the surface that highlights her biggest qualities, which are the serve, the ability to accelerate the ball,” Mouratoglou told Reuters. design an answer for Young, only to never find one for the Hawks as a whole.
“We’re going to have to get a lot better in Game 2,” he said. “We talked about changing up the look. I think we’ll do more.
“Young is a great player. He had a great night, give him credit. We feel we can play better.”
Budenholzer found himself scratching his head during Young’s most impressive stretch on a highlight-reel night, which occurred after Antetokounmpo gave Milwaukee a 65-58 lead in the second minute of the third period.
Over the course of the next eight minutes, the smallest man on the court had two 3-pointers, three 2-pointers and four assists, including an off-the-backboard alley-oop to Collins. Young’s work produced a 28-13 flurry that flipped the score in Atlanta’s favor, 86-78.
“Trae obviously is an elite passer, and I’m a freak athlete in my own right,” Collins said. “I feel when the chemistry is right between us that can happen. I just got to go get it.”
Despite Young’s brilliance, the Hawks, making their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015, found themselves down 105-98 after a Holiday 3-pointer with 4:18 to go.
It was still a four-point game following a Holiday lob to Antetokounmpo with 2:08 to play before Collins countered with a 3-pointer to get the Hawks within one. That set up Capela’s put-back for a 112111
lead after Young’s errant floater.
“A lot of people overlook us,” Collins said. “For us to come out here and get a win is big-time.”
The Bucks’ only points after Capela’s hoop came on two Antetokounmpo free throws with 5.3 seconds left, but they were sandwiched by a pair of Young 2-for2 efforts at the line.
Kevin Huerter had 13 points for the Hawks, who won despite shooting just 8for-32 on 3-point attempts.
Middleton shot 6-for-23 on a 15-point night for Milwaukee, missing all nine of his 3-point tries. Bobby Portis chipped in 11 points off the bench.
With Antetokounmpo missing both his attempts, the Bucks finished 8-for-36 from long distance.
—Field Level Media
Injury pall hangs over wide open women’s field at Wimbledon