{"id":33617,"date":"2025-12-17T23:54:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/trae-young-targets-comeback-vs-hornets-on-thursday-after-22-game-absence-due-to-mcl-sprain\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T23:54:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T04:54:37","slug":"trae-young-targets-comeback-vs-hornets-on-thursday-after-22-game-absence-due-to-mcl-sprain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/trae-young-targets-comeback-vs-hornets-on-thursday-after-22-game-absence-due-to-mcl-sprain\/","title":{"rendered":"Trae Young Targets Comeback vs. Hornets on Thursday After 22-Game Absence Due to MCL Sprain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trae Young is on the verge of making his return to the court. He has been listed as questionable for Thursday night&#8217;s game between the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets. If he plays, it will mark his first appearance since October 29, when he suffered a sprained right anterior cruciate ligament. Young fully participated in Wednesday\u2019s practice, marking his second session with the Hawks after scrimmaging with their G League team earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with ESPN on Tuesday, Young said, \u201cIt was my knee. It took a bit longer than other injuries, but&#8230;I feel good. My conditioning will improve as I get back into playing. If my conditioning wasn\u2019t close to right, they wouldn\u2019t have allowed me to come back or even get close.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Young injured his right knee\u2019s MCL during a game against the Brooklyn Nets on October 29 and hasn\u2019t played since, missing 17 games. Despite his absence, the Hawks have gone 13-9 in those games. Last season, Young averaged 24.2 points and a career-best 11.6 assists per game, leading the league in assists and earning his fourth All-Star nod. At 27, he\u2019s heading into the fourth year of a five-year, $215 million contract with the Hawks. Although eligible for a four-year extension, that deal wasn\u2019t finalized before training camp.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks come into Wednesday&#8217;s game against North Carolina with a 15-12 record and haven\u2019t made the playoffs since 2023. Young shared, \u201cWe\u2019re aiming to win. It\u2019s thrilling to have teammates who understand what it takes to win at a high level, and I need to play my part to help the team succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fan Take: Trae Young\u2019s return is crucial for Hawks fans and the NBA, as his dynamic playmaking can rejuvenate Atlanta\u2019s bid for a playoff spot. This comeback also highlights the resilience and determination elite athletes need to overcome serious injuries and continue competing at the highest level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trae Young is on the verge of making his return to the court. He has been listed as questionable for Thursday night&#8217;s game between the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets. If he plays, it will mark his first appearance since October 29, when he suffered a sprained right anterior cruciate ligament. Young fully participated in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[39],"class_list":{"0":"post-33617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}