The Atlanta Hawks are two games away from making it to the NBA Finals.
This would be the first time in their franchise history in Atlanta that they would make it that far.
However, Game 4 was not supposed to go their way.
Their superstar player, Trae Young, was out due to an injury he suffered in Game 3.
Trae Young heads to the locker room with an apparent ankle injury
Prayers up 🙏 pic.twitter.com/KqbwUuUHMr
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 28, 2021
Game 4 looked like a foregone conclusion as to who would win.
The Milwaukee Bucks were the favorite coming into the series and should have been even more heading into Game 4.
No Young means nobody creating shots for others.
However, none of that talk was true.
The Hawks came out aggressive and stole the game early.
Granted, the Bucks lost Giannis Antetokounmpo.
By that point of the game, the Hawks were playing great and were leading the whole way through.
It was one of their most impressive games during this miraculous run.
The Hawks won the game, but how were they able to do it without Young?
Stifling Defense
The Hawks are not known as a great defensive team.
They lost their best defender in De’Andre Hunter for the entire postseason.
Game 4 was a surprising effort made by the Hawks.
Khris Middleton put on a masterclass performance in the previous game, but was held to 16 points and went 0-7 from three.
Jrue Holiday struggled as well, going 6-17 from the floor to go along with four turnovers.
Antetokounmpo was having a solid game, but it took him a while to get going.
The Hawks defense were able to play aggressive and did not hold back any effort on that end.
The Hawks defense has been aggressive, even though they give up an offensive rebound, Okongwu stands up Giannis and Bogdanovic comes to help as he goes into his spin, Holiday has to be ready to shoot that on the catch. pic.twitter.com/pxwPOGzib5
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) June 30, 2021
Players such as Onyeka Okongwu and Bogdan Bogdanovic were the keys on that end of the court.
They held the Bucks to 88 points total and 39 percent shooting on the court.
That is something they need more of if Young is not going to play in Game 5.
Offense Got Going Early
The Hawks offense has been great throughout the playoffs.
The main reason for that is Young.
With him out of the game, the offense was supposed to dip by a substantial amount.
However, that is not what happened.
In fact, the offense was just as potent.
Lou Williams entered the starting lineup and was a nightmare for the Bucks.
He scored 21 points and had eight assists.
Williams was playing like Young and had the touch all game long.
Cam Reddish came off the bench getting some big minutes for once and contributed with 12 points.
Kevin Huerter and Clint Capela were able to produce and give the team 15 points each.
Then there was Bogdanovic.
He put up 20 points, while hitting six threes.
Bogdan Bogdanovic does it on both ends as the @ATLHawks even the #NBAECF presented by AT&T at 2-2! Game 5 is Thursday (8:30 PM ET, TNT). #ThatsGame #NBAPlayoffs
Lou Williams: 21 PTS (7-9 FGM), 8 AST
Kevin Huerter: 15 PTS, 7 AST
Clint Capela: 15 PTS (6-7 FGM)
Cam Reddish: 12 PTS pic.twitter.com/HwR4nE2Ec3— NBA (@NBA) June 30, 2021
The Hawks as a team only hit 13 threes in total, but finished shooting 50 percent from the field.
Their offense was special in Game 4, putting up 110 points on the Bucks.
Game 5 is going to be interesting.
Young might not play and Antetokounmpo has already been labeled as out.
The role players must step up once again to get one step closer to the ultimate goal; reaching the NBA Finals and winning it all.
NEXT: 3 Reasons Hawks Can Beat Bucks and Reach NBA Finals