NBA: Trae Young’s clutch trey extends Hawks’ series with Celtics
Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks watches his game winning 29-foot three point basket against Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter in game five of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at TD Garden on April 25, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP
Trae Young’s 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left capped a 38-point performance as the Atlanta Hawks stayed alive by rallying to beat the host Boston Celtics 119-117 on Tuesday in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Young scored the final 14 points for Atlanta, which was playing without the league-suspended Dejounte Murray after he made contact with an official at the end of the previous game.
Boston now has a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 will be played Thursday in Atlanta.
“We were missing a big piece of ours and we want him to play game six, so we want to go back home and have him with us,” Young said of Murray.
“I didn’t feel there was any pressure on me. Obviously we were without (Murray) but we all had to step our game up another level — not just me, we all did tonight. Total team win.”
Young added 13 assists and a pair of steals. John Collins contributed 22 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 18 to support Young.
Boston’s Jaylen Brown (35 points) posted his second straight 30-plus-point game.
Jayson Tatum had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Derrick White added 18 points for the Celtics.
Bogdan Bogdanovic #13 of the Atlanta Hawks dribbles against Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics during the third quarter in game five of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at TD Garden on April 25, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP
A 30-17 run over the last nine minutes of the first half and a rapid 7-0 run early in the fourth quarter seemingly put the Celtics in control, up 102-89 with nine minutes left. However, Boston was unable to close out the game, even after a Brown trey made it 109-96 with 6:10 left.
The game featured 12 lead changes, including five in the final quarter alone, and 11 ties.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder praised his team’s refusal to buckle in a game that the Celtics had controlled for long periods.
“We were tough-minded,” Snyder said. “It’s tough to be down through the whole game. We were hanging in there and hanging in there. We just didn’t capitulate.”
Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap an 12-0 Hawks run, tying the game at 111-111 with 2:42 left.
A Robert Williams III putback following an Al Horford 3-point miss swung the score back the Celtics’ way, but Young followed hitting a technical-foul free throw and two regular free throws to give the Hawks their first lead since 41-40.
Williams slammed in a dunk after a jump ball to put the Celtics back up with 115-114 with 25.1 seconds left.
ICE TRAE WINS IT FOR THE HAWKS 🥶
38 PTS TO FORCE A GAME 6 😱 pic.twitter.com/6BOoEh4ZQz
— NBA (@NBA) April 26, 2023
Young and White traded pairs of free throws to make the score 117-116 Boston with 7.3 seconds left before Young’s game-winning shot.
Tatum missed an attempted winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla blamed poor execution for the defeat but vowed his team would make adjustments in time for Thursday, when they have another chance to wrap up the series.
“I don’t know if we were trying to do too much, I just think we didn’t execute well,” Mazzulla said.
“We had an opportunity, now we have another one — and we just have to focus on that.”
The Hawks led 30-27 after shooting 6-for-11 from 3-point range in the first.
Treys from Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey helped Atlanta take a 39-34 lead early in the second.
Back-to-back Brown baskets tied the game at 41, and a 7-0 run fueled by Malcolm Brogdon and White made it 54-46 Boston with 4:57 left until halftime.
Young hit three of Atlanta’s last four field goals in the first half to keep the Hawks within 66-58 entering the break.
