NBA: Trae Young lifts Hawks over Celtics
Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks attempts a shot against Derrick White and Al Horford of the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter of Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at State Farm Arena on April 21, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images via AFP)
LOS ANGELES – Trae Young scored 32 points and Dejounte Murray added 25 as the hot-shooting Hawks beat the Boston Celtics 130-122 for their first win in their NBA first-round playoff series.
The Celtics’ two convincing victories had the Hawks on the ropes and returning home for two games in Atlanta knowing no NBA team has come back from 3-0 down to win a best-of-seven playoff series.
The Hawks made sure they won’t have to as Young shook off two sub-par performances with a stellar display.
TRAE STEPBACK FROM THE CORNER!
2 minutes remaining in Game 3 on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/oDF2g9i3Bb
— NBA (@NBA) April 22, 2023
“I just needed to make the right plays,” Young said. “Our whole team was making plays all night and it was up to me to go make the right one. It’s not only to score, sometimes its to get everybody involved.
“So I’m just trying to make the right play and tonight I did.”
Young connected on 12 of 22 shots from the field, pulled down six rebounds and handed out nine assists.
He also produced a pair of blocks as the Hawks out-hustled the second-seeded Celtics — runners-up to the champion Golden State Warriors last year.
Jayson Tatum scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston. Marcus Smart added 24 and Jalen Brown had 15 for the Celtics, who drained 21 three-pointers but were out-rebounded 48-29.
The Hawks had 23 second-chance points to Boston’s nine and out-scored them 54-40 in the paint.
They shot 67.4% from the field in the first half and shot 56% for the game overall, Boston managing only for short stretches in the second half to turn up the defensive volume.
Atlanta will try to level the series when they host game four on Sunday.
Elsewhere on Friday, Western Conference top seeds Denver tried to take a 3-0 stranglehold on their series when they visited the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The New York Knicks hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden after the teams split the first two games of their Eastern Conference series in Cleveland.
