The Atlanta Hawks are three wins away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since 1961, and NBA on TNT host Adam Lefkoe believes that fans of the team have overcome their fear of disappointment and are now rooting with hope and confidence.
"When the Hawks had that huge 25-point comeback [against the 76ers], the city changed," Lefkoe told The DA Show on Friday. "That's when it went from, 'Oh, we're happy to be here' to 'Oh man, maybe we're the team of destiny.' And it's fully changed. They're always going to love Trae. I think the biggest thing for Trae Young was that this playoff run has gone from, 'Oh, he was the other star drafted with Luka [Doncic] I can't believe they traded' to 'Wait a second, he is the guy.' And I feel like he's officially won this city over...
"I'm not saying he's better than Luka, I'm not saying he'll have the same career. But it is now fulfilled their qualms. They are now calm, cool, and collected... I think for Trae Young to drop 48 in the first game against a Bucks team, I mean, this is [Mike] Budenholzer. This is a guy who was in Atlanta. And so, I think there's a little bit of confidence there too from the Atlanta Hawks fans, where they're like, 'Oh, we know this coach. He has a propensity to lose these types of series.'
"I think that Atlanta right now feels like they're playing with house money. And to take Game 1 -- which is something Trae does because there was the Knicks, Sixers, and now the Bucks -- until you face Trae Young that first game, you have no idea what you're getting into. So, it'll be interesting to see how they match up. But Atlanta's going nuts right now."
In the Hawks' 116-113 win over Milwaukee in Game 1 of the East finals on Wednesday, Young became the first player in NBA history to score 45 points and record 10 assists in a Conference Finals game. The Hawks also became the fourth team in history -- and the first since the 1998-99 Knicks -- to win Game 1 on the road in three series within a postseason (excluding last season's playoff bubble), per ESPN Stats & Info.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will take place on Friday in Milwaukee, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Hawks currently have a 45-percent chance of advancing to the NBA Finals.
The entire NBA conversation between Lefkoe and DA can be accessed in the audio and video players above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.