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ESPN Staff Writer- Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
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Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who has missed 22 games with sprained right MCL, has been deemed available by the team for Thursday's game against the Charlotte Hornets.
Young has been out since Oct. 29, when he suffered the injury in a win at Brooklyn. The Hawks went 13-9 without Young but now get their All-Star point guard back.
Young, the reigning NBA assists champion, is averaging 17.8 points and 7.8 assists this season.
He was upgraded to probable after he was a full participant in practice Wednesday. It was his second practice after he scrimmaged with the Skyhawks, Atlanta's G League affiliate, on Tuesday.
"It's my knee, something that had to take a little more time than some other injuries," Young told reporters after practice in Atlanta on Wednesday. "... I feel good. [Conditioning is] going to get better as you play. They wouldn't even allow me to come back or even be close to coming back if my conditioning wasn't right or close to it."
Atlanta is 15-12 overall despite dealing with numerous injuries over the past month. Young has missed 22 straight games.
Young said that during his time out he saw how the Hawks thrived at times and how to sustain that while adding to areas where the team has struggled without him.
"I see certain things that our team is doing really good that I want to keep allowing our team to do," he said. "But then there are times when we are struggling or times when it looks kind of tough on guys, and I want to make it easier for them.
"For me since Day 1, I've always felt I was a puzzle piece to the big puzzle. I never felt like I was the whole puzzle. I'm about to come back and do the same thing, just be another piece to the puzzle and try to fit in."
