ATLANTA (AP) — When Atlanta’s small star Trae Young stomped on an official, bruising a bone in his foot, the tone of the Eastern Conference Finals seemed to shift late in the third quarter of Game 3.
A collision between three giants midway through the third quarter of Game 4 Tuesday night at State Farm Arena not only changed the pitch of the game, but entirely rewrote the sonnet as the Atlanta Hawks evened the series at 2-2 with a 110-88 triumph.
At the 7:19 mark, Hawks guard Lou Williams threaded a lob to a flying Clint Capela, who sneaked behind Brook Lopez and in front of Giannis Antetokoumpo.
Lopez and Antetokounmpo jumped in to contest the effort, but Capela declined. The trio of falling bodies pushed into Antetokounmpo’s left knee, sending him down in a heap, shrieking, and Capela toppling over him.
Hawks 110, Bucks 88, BOX SCORE
RELATED: Antetokounmpo suffers a leg injury and is forced to miss Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals
RELATED: How Twitter is reacting to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury
After being down under the hoop for a few minutes, Antetokounmpo ultimately got off with the help of Bucks personnel and his brother, Thanasis.
Soon after, he emerged momentarily at the end of the Bucks bench in full dress, but he retreated to the locker room and was declared out with a left knee hyperextension.
Understandably, the game’s momentum shifted.
Jrue Holiday scored to trim the Hawks’ advantage to 62-54, but the Hawks responded with a 15-0 run to break the game up and take a 77-54 lead. During that time, the Bucks missed four consecutive baskets, while the Hawks grabbed two offensive rebounds that converted to points.
With 4:16 remaining, a Bogdan Bogdanovi three-pointer after a John Collins offensive rebound prompted a Bucks timeout, with the Hawks’ guard kneeling and fist-pumping to the fans.
The Bucks never recovered and completed the night shooting 39.3% from the field and 20.5% from behind the three-point line.
“They are competing and trying to play a game,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said of his squad. “Obviously, Giannis is an important part of our soul and fibre.” I’m convinced there’s a human factor at work here, where concern and care for him are genuine. But they are in the thick of the fight. They’re having fun. They are in competition. They’re trying to make stops, rebounds, accomplish things, and find a way to be there for him when he’s not able to be on the floor, and I’m sure that’s what they’ll do.”
Game 5 will take place on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Fiserv Forum, and Game 6 will take place on Saturday, July 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Atlanta.
In 24 minutes, Antetokounmpo ended with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists.
The Bucks were already struggling offensively at that time, but Antetokounmpo was just getting started, scoring six points and cutting the Hawks’ advantage to 60-52.
The Bucks scored just 10 more points in the third quarter, while the Hawks scored 15 to go into the fourth quarter ahead 87-62.
To begin the fourth quarter, Atlanta went nearly three minutes without scoring.
