Trae Young is not new to this position.
He did it before and he hopes to do it again.
Instead of Play-In, maybe call it Trae-In.
Young hopes to continue his undefeated streak in the Play-In Tournament when the 10th-ranked Atlanta Hawks visit the the ninth-seeded Chicago Bulls in one of the two Play-In games in the Eastern Conference on Thursday, Manila time, to determine which team will continue to vie a playoff spot and which one will go home early.
The East Play-In games are set 🍿@Sixers (7) vs. @MiamiHeat (8)@ChicagoBulls (9) vs. @ATLHawks (10)
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 14, 2024
Who you got advancing?! 👀 pic.twitter.com/ShUJUyggp0
The price of winning that game? Another win-or-go-home match against either reigning MVP Joel Embiid and his Philadelphia 76ers or defending Eastern Conference champs Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat.
Young remains undefeated in three career Play-In Games so far.
Back in 2022, the former All-Star led the no. 9 seed Hawks past the Charlotte Hornets then eliminated the then-no. 8 Cleveland Cavaliers to officially clinch the East eight seed.
Atlanta, however, lost in the opening round to the then top-seed Miami Heat in five games.
A season later, Young and the Hawks were back in the play-in games, this avenging their loss to the Heat and claimed the no.7 spot but once again had an opening-round exit against the no.2 ranked Boston Celtics in six games.
Ice Trae recently returned after missing 25 games due to a 23 games with a torn ligament in his left pinkie and played in the last three Hawks' regular season. However, he struggled to regain his scoring prowess after averaging 15 points in those losses.
Still, the former All-Star’s presence back is a huge factor for his squad as they will be without key rotational players Jalen Johnson (ankle) and Onyeka Okongwu (toe). Atlanta already lost forward Saddiq Bey last March due to a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee.
This season, Atlanta found itself in the same position against the team who is also returning to a familiar territory.
The Bulls are back in the in the Play-In games after getting past the Toronto Raptors in the opening face-off before succumbing to the Heat in the battle for the East’s eighth seed last year.
Chicago won the regular-season series over Atlanta, 2-1. But the Hawks secured a 113-101 home dub over the Bulls in their latest match.
Already without superstar Zach Lavine and Patrick Williams, the Bulls will be expected to rely heavily on the duo of DeMar Derozan and Nikola Vucevic on offense and on Alex Caruso on defense in the hopes of slowing down Trae Young or Dejounte Murray.
The East Play-In game between the 10th seed Hawks and the ninth seed Bulls will air on Thursday, April 18, 9:30 a.m. on NBA TV Philippines.
