ATLANTA -- All-Star point guard Trae Young returned as a starter for the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night in their 115-114 loss to the Charlotte Hornets after missing 23 games with a torn ligament in his left pinkie.
Young's return came with only three games remaining in the regular season. Young was injured Feb. 23 and had surgery Feb. 27. He was cleared for practice Monday.
Young wore a black wrap on his left hand that covered the surgically repaired finger. He gave the first indication the wrap would not affect his shooting when he sank a long shot while seated on the Hawks' bench during pregame drills. He went on to score 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting (2-of-2 from 3) and contributed 11 assists and 4 rebounds.
"It feels good, my hand feels good," Young said afterward.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder said Young's minutes would be restricted against the Hornets as Young prepares for the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Young played 21 minutes in the loss and didn't play in the fourth quarter.
"He seemed comfortable to me," Snyder said, adding that Young's 21 minutes through three periods was a cap set by the team's training staff.
Young's first basket, less than two minutes into the game, was a drive and left-handed layup.
"I didn't do that on purpose," Young said. "Well, I guess I did. It was natural to me."
Young said his goal is to work up to a normal load of minutes by the team's final regular-season game.
The Hawks are 10th in the East. They hold the final spot in the play-in tournament, 1½ games behind No. 9 Chicago.
"We don't necessarily control our own destiny with that, but we can do everything we can," Snyder said of the race for the No. 9 position and home-court advantage in the first play-in tournament game.
"More than anything, it's important we're playing well and get healthy to the extent that we can, too."
Young leads Atlanta with 26.4 points and 10.8 assists per game. The Hawks have been limited by a long list of injuries and were without guard Dejounte Murray (right quad contusion) and forwards De'Andre Hunter (rest) and Jalen Johnson (right ankle sprain) against Charlotte.
Snyder's goal is to have as many players as possible healthy for the play-in tournament and to have Young ready for his normal role.
"The biggest thing is it's great to have him back and he's excited to play," Snyder said. "How we manage those other things, sometimes it's just time, not just for the group but for Trae to find his rhythm. That's a natural part of coming back."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.