Trae Young Hot, Damian Lillard Not; Hawks Blast Bucks in Milwaukee

While Trae Young really had it going, Damian Lillard couldn’t find the range. In fact, Lillard didn’t record his first basket until 3:33 remained in the third quarter.

So Lillard’s second game with the Bucks didn’t go nearly as well — as Young and the Hawks coasted to a 127-110 road win.

Young finished with 20 points and a game-high 11 assists to lift Atlanta to its first win. And doesn’t it seem like the entire Eastern Conference is 1-2 after three games?

Anyway, Lillard scored six. That’s right, six. On 2-of-12 shooting. And guess how many turnovers Lillard recorded?

Yes, also six.

That’s not to pick on Lillard, everyone has a bad game. But it just goes to show that in an 82-game season, we need to be careful with hype. Lillard was amazing in his Bucks debut. But despite what everyone said, there will be an adjustment period. There always is when you team a new star with a holdover star. In the Bucks’ case, the latter man is Giannis Antetokounmpo (26 points, 11 rebounds).

Milwaukee also replaced Mike Budenholzer with Adrian Griffin, a first-time head coach. So that too may take some adjusting.

But just as there was no reason to think the Bucks were on their way to the title after edging the 76ers in the first game, there’s no reason to panic over this one. There are 80 games to go, and that means never getting too high or low.

Meanwhile, the Hawks (1-2) haven’t played terribly, but not great, either. So they definitely needed a night like this.

Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points for the Hawks, and Dejounte Murray and De’Andre Hunter each scored 15.

"That was from the 'M' in 'Forum'."@TheTraeYoung | @BobRathbunTV pic.twitter.com/4gbjRDa5BI

— Bally Sports: Hawks (@HawksOnBally) October 30, 2023