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Trae strikes me as a guy who has to be at least 80% healthy to be effective on the court for the Hawks. I would use James Harden this playoffs for example of the opposite. Though clearly diminished, Harden was at least able to stay on the court for the Nets through his ability to stay on the perimeter and be a threat on the offensive end while also being able to guard a PJ Tucker or a Brook Lopez sufficiently. Harden also had KD to lean on heavily. That is not the case for Trae and the Hawks. He has to be able to get in the lane consistently to be effective. Defense is already not his strong suit when he is 100%. I agree it was silly to not play if he could at 80% level. If he could not then they made the right call to just rest him, hope for the best, and go for Games 6 and now Game 7. I know one should not assume they would get to within 2 wins of the Finals again, they are also playing with a certain amount of house money and do not need to sacrifice Trae's health down the road for this chance.
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"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946
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