The Atlanta Hawks rallied from 13 points down with 6:10 left to play in the fourth quarter, getting a three-pointer from Trae Young with 2.8 seconds left to stun the Boston Celtics 119-117 in game five of a First Round Playoff series Tuesday night at TD Garden in Boston. The Celtics still lead the series 3-2 with game six back in Atlanta on Thursday.
After a closely matched first quarter that saw the seventh seeded Hawks up 30-27 after the opening 12 minutes, the Celtics rallied in the second and got a little breathing room before the break. A three-pointer by Malcolm Brogdon gave Boston the lead again at 44-41 with 6:52 left. The C’s would build that advantage to as many as 11 and would lead 66-58 at halftime. The hosts carried play in the third quarter, matching what was the biggest lead of the game at 13 and took a 92-82 lead to the fourth. A three-pointer by Jaylen Brown made it 109-96 Celtics with 6:10 left, but that is when Atlanta would rally back to steal the victory. Young took advantage of a foul call against Al Horford with 1:39 remaining, and also a technical foul on Jayson Tatum on the same play. Young hit the technical and the two foul shots to push his team back in front 114-113. An alley-oop dunk by Robert Williams III off a feed from Tatum regained a one point lead for Boston, before Young got fouled and hit two more from the line to make it 116-115 Hawks with 15.8 seconds to go. Derrick White gave the Celtics their final lead when he was fouled by Young with 7.3 seconds showing on the clock and hit two from the line. Young had the last laugh though, burying a long game winning three-pointer to send the series back to Atlanta.
Brown led Boston in the loss with 35 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Tatum finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists while White had 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Also in double figures for the Celtics was Brogdon with 14 points, and Williams III along with Marcus Smart had 10 points each. Young had a game-high 38 points, along with four rebounds, 13 assists, and two steals for Atlanta. John Collins added 22 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 18. The Hawks played without Dejounte Murray who was suspended for one game for contact with an official at the end of game four. Tipoff time at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Thursday is 8:30 p.m.
Story by Chris Lessner/Highlight video courtesy of the NBA website
