Young gets big assist from 3 guys off the Hawks' bench

Published Apr. 23, 2022 11:30 a.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young is the unquestioned leader of the Atlanta Hawks.

Those three guys coming off the bench aren't too shabby, either.

in Game 3 as Atlanta rallied from a 16-point deficit to

He got a big assist from Bogdan Bogdanovic,

The trio combined to score 21 of Atlanta's 34 points in the final period, taking some of the heat off Young and giving the Hawks a chance to even the series Sunday night in Game 4.

“When you've got multiple guys who can dribble and make plays,” Young said, “it makes it a lot easier for me.”

In other games Sunday, the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks look to build a commanding 3-1 lead over the Bulls after a Game 3 rout in Chicago, the West top-seeded Phoenix Suns go for a 3-1 lead over the New Orleans Pelicans and the Golden State Warriors try to complete a sweep of the Denver Nuggets.

The hot-and-cold

“When Bogey gets hot like that, he's one of the best shooters in this league,” Young said. “He really sparked our offense.”

Sunday's games:

BUCKS AT BULLS

Milwaukee leads 2-1. Game 4, 1 p.m. EDT, ABC

— NEED TO KNOW: The Bucks bounced back from a loss in Game 2 to

— KEEP AN EYE ON: Bucks F Bobby Portis had 18 points and 16 rebounds in a starting role with Middleton sidelined because of a sprained left knee. Portis did it despite pain in his right eye stemming from a hit to the face Wednesday by Chicago’s Tristan Thompson as they went for a rebound. It left him with an abrasion, forcing him to miss most of that game, and Portis wore goggles on Friday. “Just doing all the proper things I needed to do, taking all the proper medicines, hopefully it goes down,” he said after the game. ”Obviously, it hurts. You can see it’s still red.”

— INJURY WATCH: Middleton is expected to miss the remainder of this series after spraining his left MCL in Game 2. He is eyeing a return in the conference semis, assuming the Bucks get past the Bulls. G George Hill (abdominal strain) has missed the past four games.

— PRESSURE IS ON: DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls star went from setting a career playoff high with 41 points in Game 2 to scoring just 11 on nine shots with the Bucks crowding him. “DeMar didn’t get 41 in Game 2 on wide open jump shots with nobody near him,” coach Billy Donovan said. “There were guys hanging all over him when he made those shots. I think when DeMar doesn’t feel like he’s got to his spot or a good rhythm, he’s going to probably more often than not get off of it and pass it when he sees a crowd.”

WARRIORS AT NUGGETS

Golden State leads 3-0. Game 4, 3:30 p.m. ABC

— NEED TO KNOW: With its

— KEEP AN EYE ON: Warriors G Jordan Poole. He has erupted for 30, 29 and 27 points, making him the 16th player in league history to score 25 or more points in their first three career playoff games, according to research by Elias. He’s also the second Warriors player to accomplish the feat, joining Wilt Chamberlain (1960). Poole, 22, is playing almost like a seasoned veteran. “I’m not going to give him all that much credit,” Thompson cracked. “It’s incredible what Jordan is doing. We need him to go where we want to go. We need him to keep doing what he’s doing.”

— INJURY WATCH: Green rolled his left ankle in Game 3 but stayed on the floor. Poole landed awkwardly on his left arm and used a heating pad on the bench. He returned, too. “Jordan’s doing fine,” coach Steve Kerr said after the game.

— PRESSURE IS ON: Nikola Jokic. How can it be anyone else? The reigning NBA MVP is in danger of being swept in a second straight playoff series. His message to his teammates was simple: “It isn’t over,” Jokic said. “As long as we put in effort like we did (Thursday), we’re going to be fine.”

HEAT AT HAWKS

Miami leads 2-1. Game 4, 7 p.m. EDT, TNT

— NEED TO KNOW: The Hawks have become one of the league's best teams at home, a far cry from the days when the visiting team's fans often outnumbered the home team's. Atlanta has won 21 of its last 24 games at State Farm Arena, including six in a row.

— KEEP AN EYE ON: Miami G Jimmy Butler. Coming off a career playoff-best 45 points in Game 2, he had a couple of chances to win Game 3 for the Heat. Butler missed them both, giving the Hawks a burst of hope in the series.

— INJURY REPORT:

— PRESSURE IS ON: The Heat. After squandering a 21-0 run in Game 3, they missed a prime chance to go up 3-0 in the series. The Hawks are now in position to even things up if they can win again at home. Miami does not want this to turn into a best-of-three series against an underdog with nothing to lose.

SUNS AT PELICANS

Phoenix leads 2-1. Game 4, 9:30 p.m. EDT, TNT

— NEED TO KNOW: Things got chippy in Game 3, with Pelicans F Jaxson Hayes being ejected for slamming into Suns F Jae Crowder from behind in the second quarter. But the Suns say the shot inspired them. "I didn’t see the play, but the coaches told me it was one of those hits that you just don’t want to see in basketball,” Phoenix coach Monty Williams said. “We want to win the game, but not the fight.”

— KEEP AN EYE ON: Suns C Deandre Ayton. After scoring just 10 points in Game 2,

— LATE NIGHTS IN NOLA: Even though New Orleans is known as a party town, the Pelicans don’t particularly appreciate leaving the arena after midnight. Sunday’s game starts a little earlier and veteran G CJ McCollum says that can’t be the Pelicans’ focus. “You’ve got to turn the page, learn from your mistakes, figure out where you can play better, but also look at all the things we’ve done well up to this point. Down 1-2, with a game to play at home, I’ll take that. Obviously, we’d have liked to win, but we’ve got a chance to even up the series in front of our fans."

— PRESSURE IS ON: The Pelicans. New Orleans doesn’t want to go down 3-1. The Suns regained home-court advantage despite the absence of Booker and shooting 4 of 26 from the 3-point line.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963

___

AP Sports Writers Andrew Seligman in Chicago and Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports