The Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks will contest for the 3-2 lead in the series this Thursday night, with or without their star players. With that said, which side will move closer to joining the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals? Check out our preview of this game below.
Even without star player Trae Young due to a bruised foot injury that was brought up right before Game 4’s tip-off, the Hawks still got the job done with an emphatic 110-98 win in Game 4 Tuesday to even up the series at two games apiece. Three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner Lou Williams stepped in for Young in the starting five and erupted for 21 points on 7/9 shooting from the field to lead all Atlanta players. Bogdan Bogdanovic also scored 20 points and made six three-pointers for the Hawks, who’ll need another strong team effort in Game 5. The team shot 50.6 percent from the field on Tuesday and this is a good sign that it can capitalize on an equally-hobbled Bucks squad this Thursday night. Bogdanovic, however, is considered probable to play Thursday because of a right knee soreness.
Atlanta is 6-3 on the road this postseason both straight-up and against the spread.
The Milwaukee Bucks lost more than just Game 4 in a rather embarrassing fashion, as they saw their former league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo suffer a scary knee injury due to an awkward landing in the third quarter of the loss. The Greek Freak finished his short night with 14 points and eight rebounds and is questionable to return in time for Game 5 as of this writing. That’s not a good sign for the Bucks, who only got double-digit scoring performances from two other players in Game 4 in Khris Middleton (16 points) and Jrue Holiday (19). The Bucks certainly need Middleton, who missed all seven of his three-point attempts in the loss, to step up Thursday night in the event that Antetokounmpo is indeed sidelined for the game. Mike Budenholzer could look for Bobby Portis getting increased minutes while the Bucks try to survive without Giannis.
Milwaukee is 4-4 at home against the spread this postseason despite going 7-1 straight-up in these homestands.
