Young-less Hawks fend off Bucks as Antetokounmpo injures knee

MANILA, Philippines, June 30 ------ An apparent knee injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo overshadowed a series-tying win by the Atlanta Hawks over the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-88, in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the State Farm Arena in Georgia on Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time).

The Hawks who missed the services of star Trae Young due to injury, were holding their ground against the Bucks as they led by eight with around seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter before Antetokounmpo went down with a hyperextended knee. The former MVP suffered the injury on a defensive play against Clint Capela that would put the Hawks up 10, 62-52. Antetokounmpo went up for a dunk that would end with him awkwardly landing with Capela tumbling down with him. This would result in Antetokounmpo being assisted off of the floor and into the Bucks locker room. While he eventually returned to the bench a few minutes later, he was ruled out for the rest of the game.

By the end of the third salvo, it already looked like the game was finished with the Hawks ahead by 25, 87-62. Clint Capela also exited the game for the Hawks late in the fourth quarter when he absorbed an elbow to the face. Without Young, it was Lou Williams and Bogdan Bogdanovic who picked up the slack on offense with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Kevin Huerter, Capela, Cam Reddish and Danilo Gallinari also finished in double-digit scoring for the wire-to-wire win.

Jrue Holiday paced the Bucks in the losing effort with 19 points while Antetokounmpo had 14 points before leaving the game. Game Five shifts back to Milwaukee on Thursday (Friday, Manila time) with hopefully both Young and Antetokounmpo back on their respective teams' lineup.

Source: philstar.com

From your news staff:

GAME 4 RESULTS

Atlanta Hawks - 110 vs Milwaukee Bucks - 88

STANDINGS

Western Conference Finals Series

Phoenix Suns - 3 vs Los Angeles Clippers - 2

Eastern Conference Finals Series

Milwaukee Bucks - 2 vs Atlanta Hawks - 2