The losses are mounting.
Relax, it’s not that bad.
The Hawks lost Trae Young and Tyler Dorsey to minor injuries and John Collins is about to be shut down from summer league after dominating play.
Oh, and they are 0-5 between play in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. You know, those games that don’t count.
Young played one half before being sidelined with a right quad contusion in a Las Vegas Summer League game against the Trail Blazers on Sunday. The injury is not considered serious and Young was one the team bench for the second half of the 85-68 loss.
Collins led the Hawks with 18 points and nine rebounds. Antonius Cleveland added nine points as the Hawks played 12 players. Jake Layman led the Trail Blazers with 23 points.
Young played just 10 minutes in the first half and was ruled out by team officials before the start of the second half. The No. 5 overall pick was 0 of 2 from the field with three assists before he left the game. There is a concern about Young’s early transition to the NBA. He is now 16 of 66 from the field, including 6 of 35 from 3-point range, in five summer league games.
Both Young and Dorsey were hurt in Saturday’s loss to the Knicks.
“I tried to play out today,” Young said. “Early on, I started feeling it whenever I was running. They wanted to hold me out the rest of the game as a precaution.”
Dorsey, last year’s second-round pick who has impressed during summer leagues, did not play due to left hip tightness. Dorsey took a nasty hit and had his leg fold under him.
“My hip feels bruised and it feels tight,” Dorsey said. “I’ve been limping a little bit so off of precautionary I just didn’t play today.”
The Hawks have Monday off and will re-assess both players before Tuesday’s game against the Bulls.
After scoring 30 points in the opening game in Las Vegas, Collins started against the Trail Blazers. However, appearing on the ESPN2 telecast, head coach Lloyd Pierce said Collins’ summer league “is about to end.”
Soon after Pierce’s comments, Collins took a hard fall and hit his head on the court. He remained in the game.
Collins had 10 points in 15 first-half minutes. Last year’s first-round pick started the second half and played six minutes. He returned early in the fourth quarter.
“Whatever coach says, that’s what we’ll do,” said assistant Chris Jent, who is coaching the Hawks in Las Vegas. “I would imagine it’s coming close to an end.”
The Hawks finish the preliminary round against the Bulls at 6 p.m. on NBA TV.
