Following up a 30-point comeback victory over the Boston Celtics was going to be hard for the Atlanta Hawks, but they found a way to do it. Dejounte Murray canned a 21-foot pull-up jumper with 0.01 seconds left in overtime to top the Celtics in dramatic fashion, and for the second time in the same calendar week!
In the 123-122 thriller, Murray put up 44 shots, the only other players to do that were Kobe Bryant and Russell Westbrook in the last decade. Murray finished with 44 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, in a memorable night at State Farm Arena.
This game had everything you could ask for, both teams were neck-and-neck the entire way and down to the wire in regulation and overtime.
With 1:01 remaining in the fourth, De’Andre Hunter missed two crucial free throws trailing by one, and fans watched as Jalen Brown hit a tough 17-foot jumper to put the Celtics up by three. On the next possession for Atlanta, Murray missed the game-tying-three-point attempt, but the offensive rebound was tapped out by Hunter to Bogdan Bogdanovic who nailed the game-tying three to knot it up at 112-apiece.
Boston had the final look in regulation and Jayson Tatum missed a three-pointer to win it at the buzzer. In overtime, Murray picked up where he left off and scored all eleven points for the Hawks in the extra period, including the aforementioned game-winner.
Atlanta has now won four games in a row, and the coaching of Quin Snyder has finally started to sink in with the squad it seems. Even missing key players, Atlanta has looked like a different club defensively and the offense has been running as efficiently as it ever was.
Nor Boston or Atlanta got much production off their bench with Boston scoring 18 and Atlanta scoring 20. This was a battle of the big dogs, and Murray led all scorers with his 44-point night.
Tatum finished with 31 points on 9 of 22 shooting, while also hauling in 13 rebounds. Derrick White went 5 of 6 from three for 22 points. Kristaps Porzingis finished with 20 and Brown added in 18.
For the Hawks, Bogdanovic finished with 24 points on the night with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Hunter played great as well with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Clint Capela finished with yet another double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, his 34th of the season.
The Hawks gained a half-game on the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conferences’ ninth seed with their win against Boston Thursday. Atlanta has one more game left in their home-stand and that will be against the two-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. Tip-off for Saturday’s match-up will be at 7:30 p.m. form ‘the Farm.’
