Young's MCL recovery advances. Hawks reevaluate star guard in two weeks as team continues surprising win streak.
The Atlanta Hawks continue to climb the standings without their All-Star point guard, but Friday brought a welcomed update: Trae Young’s sprained right MCL is progressing, and the team expects to reevaluate him in approximately two weeks.
Young has been sidelined since suffering the injury in an Oct. 29 win at Brooklyn. He has missed 15 games and was originally projected to be out until at least mid-December. The reigning assists champion is averaging 17.8 points and 7.8 assists this season.
The latest sign of improvement came before Friday night’s NBA Cup matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, when Young took the floor for a brief warmup and got shots up for the first time since the injury. The session drew attention from teammates and staff, marking a small but significant step as Atlanta manages his recovery.
The Hawks announced Young’s updated timeline shortly before tipoff, emphasizing the reassessment window rather than guaranteeing a specific return date. His absence has forced the team to reorganize its offense, but the results have been better than expected.
Atlanta is 10-5 since Young went down, leaning heavily on forward Jalen Johnson, who has produced 10 double-doubles and two triple-doubles during the stretch. The latest came Friday, when Johnson delivered a 29-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist masterpiece to lead the Hawks to a 130-123 win over Cleveland.
The victory removed both teams from NBA Cup quarterfinal contention, but it continued Atlanta’s momentum without its floor general.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 28 points, including a decisive pull-up 3-pointer with 47.7 seconds remaining after Donovan Mitchell missed a potential game-tying shot. The Cavaliers went scoreless over the final 2:03 after holding a four-point lead with just over two minutes to go.
Atlanta’s rookie guard Zaccharie Risacher knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:09 left to break a 123-all tie, continuing his increasingly steady late-game contributions. Mitchell, who finished with 42 points, kept Cleveland competitive throughout but could not answer in the closing minutes.
Both teams traded long runs earlier in the night — a 21-4 Hawks burst in the first quarter and a 14-0 Cavaliers surge in the second — before the game settled into a back-and-forth battle.
The Hawks and Cavaliers have now split their first two regular-season matchups, each winning at home. They will meet again twice in April during the final week of the regular season.
Atlanta travels to Philadelphia next, where the team will again try to keep its strong push going — and wait a bit longer for its star point guard to rejoin the mix.