Murray scores career-high 44 points, Hawks outlast Celtics 123-122
By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA - Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 44 points, including a go-ahead jumper in the final second of overtime to power the Atlanta Hawks to a 123-122 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
Murray scored all of Atlanta's 11 points in the extra period to give the Hawks their second win over Boston in four days.
Jaylen Brown sank a go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds remaining in overtime to give Boston a 122-121 lead. Murray answered with the jumper over Jrue Holiday.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 24 points and De'Andre Hunter had 21 points and 13 rebounds as Atlanta won its fourth straight game to match its longest streak of the season.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points and Brown had 18.
Murray was listed as questionable with lower back soreness before being cleared to play.
On Monday night, the Hawks trailed by 30 points before rallying for a 120-118 win over the Celtics. It was Atlanta's biggest comeback win since at least the 1997-98 season.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said before Thursday night's game he wasn't worried about how his players would respond to the stunning loss that snapped the Celtics' nine-game winning streak.
"No, not really," Mazzulla said. "They responded already the way they came out and practiced yesterday."
Mazzulla had reason to be confident in his team, which boasts the NBA's best record and has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta holds the final play-in spot in the East. The Hawks likely would face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs by making it through the play-in tournament.
No dramatic comeback was necessary in the second meeting between the teams in four days. The biggest lead by either team was Boston's eight-point advantage at 23-15 in the first period.
Boston forward Al Horford (left big toe sprain) did not play.
Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (left big toe sprain) missed his fourth consecutive game. The Hawks said forward Saddiq Bey, already ruled out for the season, had surgery Wednesday in New York to repair the torn anterior crucial ligament in his left knee.
All-Star point guard Trae Young (finger) and forward Jalen Johnson (right ankle) have missed 17 and eight consecutive games, respectively. Young was called for a technical foul from his spot on Atlanta's bench in the second period following a 3-pointer by Murray.
A Hawks fan wearing a Hunter jersey sank a halfcourt shot at halftime to win $10,000.
UP NEXT
Celtics: Visit New Orleans on Saturday night in the fifth game of a six-game trip.
Hawks: Host Milwaukee on Saturday night.
