Trae Young’s half-court buzzer-beater lifts Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics down Denver Nuggets in NBA
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Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young keeps the ball from Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton during the second quarter at Delta Centre.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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UTAH – Once in a while, something magical happens in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
On Jan 7, Trae Young’s sensational buzzer-beating three-pointer lifted the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-121 road victory over the Utah Jazz, as the Boston Celtics beat the Denver Nuggets in a battle of the last two NBA champions.
At the end of a tight game, the crowd in Salt Lake City roared as Collin Sexton drilled a three-pointer to pull the Jazz level at 121-121 with four seconds remaining.
The two teams appeared to be heading to overtime when Young unleashed his stunning shot from the half-court line – the third buzzer-beater of his career according to the Hawks – to seal a stunning win.
“I’m a competitor, and we got a lot of guys on this team that are competitors,” he said after the win.
“I had a hell of a game, big shot right there... I mean, trying to get a shot myself and God did what he did (for me).”
Young finished the game with 24 points and 20 assists, helping the Hawks improve to 19-18 in the East despite Lauri Markkanen’s 35 points for the Jazz (9-26).
On the game overall, he added: “We just needed to keep playing hard, keep fighting through it. We knew it was going to be a long game. They were all ready to play and we just kept fighting and that’s what we did.”
Utah coach Will Hardy was understandably disappointed to lose in such a manner.
“That’s a tough way for the game to end, but there’s nothing to be upset about with the end of the game,” he said.
“I thought Collin was pressuring the ball pretty well... then Trae Young made a half-court shot.
“It’s one that we’ll watch on film, and there’ll be things to teach like there always is, but this is one you just kind of shake their hand and move on. It was a hell of a finish and an incredible shot.”
In Denver, Jayson Tatum scored 29 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 25 as champions Boston triumphed 118-106 over 2023 title holders Nuggets, who were without three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic because of illness.
Porzingis scored 15 points in the first quarter to spark the Celtics’ hot start, but their 37-25 lead evaporated in the second quarter and it was tied 57-57 at half-time.
Russell Westbrook scored 26 points to lead six Denver players to score in double figures.
But Boston then used a 15-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
The Celtics have won three of four consecutive road games to improve to 27-10 overall in the East, behind the leading Cleveland Cavaliers (31-4).
“They had some tough shots but I thought we did a great job of defending the win,” said Boston coach Joe Mazzulla.
“I thought our defence kind of carried us and the physicality throughout all four (road) games were there. So we just got to keep that up.”
In Dallas, Quentin Grimes was the unlikely hero as the injury-hit Mavericks outclassed LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 118-97 to snap a five-game losing streak.
Grimes came off the bench to score 23 points and grab nine rebounds, drilling six of the Mavericks’ 18 three-pointers.
“We knew we had to get back on track,” he told broadcaster TNT. “Came out with the right mindset after dropping five in a row, so good to get back on track.”
Dallas, last season’s Western Conference champions, had gone 1-5 since losing Luka Doncic to a calf strain on Christmas Day. Still without the Slovenian star, they announced on Jan 6 that Kyrie Irving would be sidelined for some time with a lower-back sprain.
Anthony Davis scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Lakers and James added 18 points, 10 boards and eight assists. AFP
