Remember when the shorthanded Atlanta Hawks stunned the Boston Celtics in an NBA Cup matchup earlier this month?
Apparently Atlanta's lineup raised a red flag with the NBA.
The NBA has fined the Hawks $100,000 for violating its Player Participation Policy in their Nov. 12 win over the Celtics at TD Garden, noting that star guard Trae Young was healthy enough to play and shouldn't have been ruled out.
"Following an investigation, including review by an independent physician, the NBA determined that the Hawks held Young out of a game he could have played in under the medical standard in the Policy," the league said in a statement. "The organization's conduct violated the Policy, which is intended to promote participation in the NBA regular season."
MORE CELTICS COVERAGE
On the surface, it's odd that the Hawks would rule out their star player for arguably their most important game of the young season to date: a road matchup against the defending champion Celtics in their first game of NBA Cup group play. (The Hawks ruled Young out with "right Achilles tendonitis" despite having two full days off before that Nov. 12 game. It's the only game he's missed this season to date.)
Atlanta may have had motivation to give Young a breather, though; just eight days earlier, he played one of the worst games of his career against Boston, scoring just two points on 1 of 10 shooting in a 30-point home loss to the Celtics.
Sure enough, the Young-less Hawks thrived without their All-Star guard in that Nov. 12 matchup, upsetting the Celtics 117-116 thanks to stellar performances from Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson.
That decision to sit Young will cost Atlanta, but the team now controls its own destiny in the NBA Cup group stage; if the Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, they'll win Group C and advance to the quarterfinals.
If Atlanta loses to the Cavs, Boston can win the group by taking down the Chicago Bulls in NBA Cup action on Friday night. Tip-off for Celtics-Bulls is set for 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.
