NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 23, 2021

Trae Young

Atlanta Hawks

Game 1: Postgame

Hawks 116, Bucks 113

Q. What is it about Game 1 wins on the road? What is it about this team that it's been able to put these games together?

TRAE YOUNG: Really just our attention to detail. We've been very focused and very locked in when it comes to preparing for our opponent. We didn't get a high seed, so we've got to try to steal one on the road. Game 1 is definitely a game that you can really surprise that team. I think with the way we've been playing coming out of the gate, you can just tell we're really focused on our attention to details when it comes to the other team.

Q. Right before you hit that shimmy three, what was going through your mind?

TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, I had a lot of time. I had a lot of time and was kind of tired a little bit, so I got a little second to get a deep breath and knock it down.

Q. You seem to kind of relish playing in these environments. What is it about playing in hostile environments like this?

TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, I've always -- ever since I was in middle school, when I was going on the road in middle school, I always loved playing on the road. I loved playing against the opposing crowd, an opposing team. It feels like you're really just with your team, and it's just them in the building. I think that really brings our group together. We're a close group. When you're on the road, it really forces you to come closer with your teammates, to really find a way to win.

I think that's why I really like playing on the road with this team.

Q. How big were John and Clint in the fourth quarter? They both had two big offensive rebounds for you guys down the stretch. How key was that?

TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, they were very big, very big in the fourth quarter. Big the whole game. They made a lot of plays down the stretch. Clint for sure on the defensive end and rebounding. Then J.C. with his scoring. He had a big three in front of their bench, and he did play really well the whole game. It was a fun game, and those two played really well.

Q. What have you learned from Nate since he's taken over just about leadership, whether it's on the court dictating the offense and off the court being that guy in the locker room, a vocal leader?

TRAE YOUNG: Just that I know we're always in the game. He tells me he believes that if it's a couple possessions in a game that I can win anything. Whenever you have a coach that believes in you and tells you that all the time, it really gives not only you confidence but your teammates confidence. I think that's something that I've really taken away from him and he's talked to me a lot about.

Q. The Hawks haven't won a Conference Finals game before since moving to Atlanta. Being a part of that and being on this team, what does that mean to you?

TRAE YOUNG: Oh, it's special. I wanted to achieve things like that when I was a rookie coming in. I mean, as a rookie you don't know how hard it is until you have to actually do it. So to achieve an accomplishment like that and winning our first of hopefully many conference games, it's a great accomplishment for our team and for the city.

Q. Do you feel underestimated? I don't mean like social media or when you're looking for motivation. I mean on the floor, given the shots that you are so good at, tonight you had the floater early, are you sometimes surprised at the space you still get given all that you've done in the Playoffs?

TRAE YOUNG: No. I'm not surprised because I know -- I've seen pretty much every defense. It's really just figuring out what type of defense they're showing that night. So I'm not surprised. For me, it's just trying to make the right read and figure out how they're going to guard. They guard a certain way, and just trying to make plays and attack that way. I'm not really surprised ever.

Q. It seemed like especially early in the game they were kind of letting you get to that floater and sticking everybody else. Did you feel like that hot start you got from the mid-range kind of ignite your game and as the game went on kind of forced them to change what they were doing?

TRAE YOUNG: I don't know, maybe. To be honest, I don't really try to focus on that. I know when I played them the one game out of the three this season they were playing the same defense tonight. It's a lot of floaters. I shot 17 percent from the field and it just didn't work. But tonight they played the same way and it was a different result. It's really just if my shots are going to go in or not. I've just got to focus and be ready to make them.

Q. When you talk about that belief that Nate has in you, it seems like you guys as a team kind of thrive on that. That first Game 1 back in New York you guys were down in the fourth quarter, you come back and win. Obviously the same thing happened tonight. You guys have come back in a bunch of these games. Where does that belief come from in a group that is obviously going through this for the first time?

TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, I mean, really just comes from the leaders. All the leaders, we really believe in each other. The leaders of this team, from Nate down, we all just believe. When you have a group that really believes in each other and really is fighting on the court for each other, anything can happen. I think our team really believes that, and it's been working.

Q. They went to some smaller lineups in the fourth quarter. What kind of adjustments did that require from you or how do you attack those?

TRAE YOUNG: Just figuring out where the mismatch is or where the matchup is for us that we can go to, whether it's Gallo in the post or somebody out on the perimeter. When they go to a small lineup, we have to figure out how to attack them. Our bigs got to crash the glass a lot more, especially when they go small.

Q. Trae, you scored or assisted on 72 points, 62 percent of the offense tonight, which was a Conference Finals record. Is this what's needed from you to get three more wins?

TRAE YOUNG: I don't know. Every game brings a different challenge. Tonight we needed it to win by three points. If that's what's needed the next game, I'll be ready. But if not, we win, I'll be happy regardless.

That's my goal at the end of the day, just figure out a way to try to help my team win.

Q. Do you view you guys as having any sort of ceiling this year? You've already surpassed, I think, what most people thought you would do.

TRAE YOUNG: No. I mean, I don't know who asked me a long time ago, but I was getting asked that a lot at the beginning of the season. I told everybody then, I didn't believe we had any ceiling. I think we can go as far as we want to. I don't think there is a ceiling, unless you put the Finals on it.

I believe in this team, and we all believe in each other.

Q. To be on a team that nothing seems to faze you guys, no situation, no road game, no injuries, no nothing, is it unique to be in that situation?

TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, it's definitely unique. It's one of my favorite teams I've been a part of. This is a special group. It's definitely a unique group.

Q. After that lob to John off the backboard, Kent Bazemore tweeted that you guys used to do that all the time in practice, he never thought you'd do it in a game. John had a big smile. Take me through that play.

TRAE YOUNG: Yeah, Baze has seen us do that a couple times in practice, drills and things like that. So that's funny. Yeah, like we said in the locker room, he knew it was coming. He knew the difference between one of my floaters and one of my passes off the backboard. That's just the connection we have, the type of chemistry we have. So it's fun playing with him.

Q. Trae, when you're reading the game and you go from sort of reading the game to sort of taking it over like you did in the third quarter, is that a conscious decision? Do you read the game in the first half, or do you just decide, hey, we can make a run here and I can do it? What goes through your mind when you make that decision to be more assertive?

TRAE YOUNG: It's a game flow. If I've got a couple shots going, if I hit a couple in a row, my teammates are looking for me to be aggressive and to keep going. The third quarter was that kind of way. Last game it was Kev. It's always a different guy sometimes, and tonight that's just kind of how it was. My teammates were telling me to be aggressive in the third quarter and to keep going.

Q. Nate made a really great comment a few minutes earlier, and he said that your style of play is built for this time of the season. What does he mean by that?

TRAE YOUNG: I don't know. Maybe he just knows my mentality and just knows me. Just knows I'm all for the biggest moments.

I don't know, I feel like I've worked my whole life. We've talked about it in our little conversations we've had, that just getting to the Playoffs is something that I wanted to do this year as a team. Not making it the last two years has been tough. So just having that motivation that when we got here, to be ready. It was definitely something that I was thinking about.

Q. Why do you think that you've been able to succeed at such a high level in this scenario when so many guys going through it the first time really struggle badly?

TRAE YOUNG: There's a lot of reasons. When you have a coach that believes in you and then you've got great teammates around you that make plays and also believe in you, it makes my job a lot easier.

I just go out there, I have fun, enjoy the game and just try and leave it at that. Then whatever happens happens. It's been fun.

Q. Trae, you just mentioned that basketball is a fun game, obviously, but there's also a lot at stake right here. I'm wondering, do you embrace the magnitude of the situation to have fun or do you try to downplay how big this is and just go out and play and try to have fun? Which one is it?

TRAE YOUNG: I mean, I know it's a big deal, but not a lot of people believe we can win. So that's one thing right there. It's a big deal, but not a lot of people think it's a big deal to us. For us, we've just got to go out there, have fun, play the right way and keep doing what we've been doing. That's all we've got to focus on.