NBA playoffs result: Trae Young’s clutch trey extends Hawks’ series with Celtics

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.

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young drives to the basket against Boston Celtics centre Al Horford during the fourth quarter of Game 5 in the first round of the NBA playoffs on April 25, 2023.  | Photo Credit: AP

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.

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.

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.

Young hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 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.

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.

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.