NBA: Trae Young nails buzzer-beater to send Hawks past Nets
Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts after a basket against the Brooklyn Nets during the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena on February 26, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images/AFP
Trae Young scored 34 points and sank the game-winner at the buzzer to lift the Atlanta Hawks to a 129-127 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Sunday for their second straight win.
The Nets tied the game at 127-127 on Cam Johnson’s 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Young took the inbounds pass from Dejounte Murray, dribbled and scored on a 12-foot pullup jumper as the horn sounded.
Young, who also had eight assists, was one of three Hawks with 20-plus points, joining Murray with 28 and Bogdan Bogdanovic with 22.
Johnson led Brooklyn with 27 points. Mikal Bridges scored 24, Cam Thomas had 22 and Spencer Dinwiddie added 20 points and eight assists. The Nets have lost two straight and four of their last five games.
TRAE YOUNG
🥶❄️🧊 pic.twitter.com/fpxYBApcJr
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 26, 2023
The Hawks picked up where they left off in scoring 136 points against Cleveland on Friday. They put up 37 in the first quarter, led by as many as 18 points and took a 64-57 lead into halftime. Both teams had key contributions off the bench — 12 points for Atlanta’s Bogdanovic, all on 3-point baskets, and 13 for Brooklyn’s Thomas.
Brooklyn continued to whittle the lead. The Nets outscored the Hawks 15-7 to start the third quarter and took a 72-71 lead when Finney-Smith tipped in his own missed shot at 8:18. Brooklyn stretched the lead to five, but Atlanta came back to regain the lead 97-94 entering the fourth.
Atlanta has scored 100-plus points in 36 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and the fourth-longest streak in franchise history.
Brooklyn leads the season series 2-1. The final meeting between the two clubs will be March 31 at Brooklyn. The Nets have won the season series for the last five years.
Atlanta continues its homestand Tuesday against Washington. Brooklyn returns home on Tuesday to host Milwaukee.
