The short-handed Hawks will look to Young, their lone All-Star, for a lift. He was still getting his legs back in the past three games, but his offensive impact was obvious. Young totaled 30 assists in 80 minutes while shooting 58% from the field (6 for 13 on 3-pointers). The Hawks will be dangerous if Young plays his usual minutes with his typical efficient scoring and playmaking.

They’ll have to turn it on in Chicago because there’s little momentum going into the postseason. The Hawks’ six-game losing streak is tied for the longest in the NBA, though an asterisk is attached to it. Coach Quin Snyder emptied his bench for the final three games because the Hawks were locked into 10th place.

The Hawks had won six of seven games before that with two victories over the Celtics. That winning stretch came with Young out. The Hawks were 24-31 before his surgery and 12-12 while he was recovering. The schedule was weaker, but the team’s defense was better.

The best version of the Hawks is the one with Young as elite offensive engine and adequate defender.

“You look for where you can fit in and be yourself,” Young said of his view from the sidelines while on the injured list. “If things are going well, where you can fit in and be the extra spark to helping with that’s going well? If something’s not (going well), how can you fix it when you come back?

“I don’t dive too deep into it. I’m adjustable. My game is adjustable. I can play whatever style with whoever and I can fit in and make myself and whoever is around me stand out. It’s just about making sure I have the wind to do it and just (be) in rhythm with everybody.”

The Hawks are good one through five: Young, Murray, De’Andre Hunter, Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Things will get dicey for Snyder when he calls on others. Garrison Mathews and Wesley Matthews are veteran journeymen. Kobe Bufkin, Trent Forrest and Mouhamed Gueye still are trying to prove they belong in the NBA.

The Hawks just don’t have enough good, experienced players available to make it through to the playoffs. You don’t need as many of them in the postseason, but five isn’t enough. The Hawks are a flawed team when all players are available. Now they are too short-handed to win two high-stakes road games against better teams.

If I end up being wrong about that, it will be because Young is extraordinary. It’s happened before. We’ll see if Young can do it again.

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