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National Basketball Association
Atlanta 120, Boston 118
When: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, March 25, 2024
Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Officials: #58 Josh Tiven, #32 Marat Kogut, #78 Evan Scott
Attendance: 17405

Dejounte Murray scored 19 points, dished out 15 assists and made the go-ahead basket with one minute left to help the Atlanta Hawks overcome a 30-point deficit and stun the visiting Boston Celtics 120-118 on Monday.

De'Andre Hunter followed with a 3-pointer to up Atlanta's lead to four points with 10.1 seconds remaining. Jayson Tatum scored on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left for Boston, but Atlanta was able to inbound the ball after a timeout to run out the clock.

No team had successfully come back from a 30-point deficit against the team with the best record in the NBA since the Los Angeles Lakers did so against the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 6, 2002.

Monday also marked the Hawks' largest come-from-behind win of the play-by-play era, which began in 1997-98.

Boston (57-15), which has already secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end. Atlanta (32-39) improved to 1-2 against the Celtics this season and ended a seven-game losing streak vs. Boston. The teams will meet again in Atlanta on Thursday.

The Celtics led 68-38 in the second quarter, but Atlanta went on an 18-6 run to cut the lead to 74-56 at halftime. The momentum carried over to the second half, and the Hawks twice got as close as three points in the third quarter before Boston led 96-90 going into the fourth.

Atlanta took the lead for the first time on a 3-pointer by Wesley Matthews with 9:58 left.

Hunter led the Hawks with 24 points, and Bogdan Bogdanovic contributed 22. Vit Krejci matched his career high with 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

Boston got 37 points and eight rebounds from Tatum, 24 points from Jaylen Brown and 17 points from Kristaps Porzingis. Payton Pritchard finished with 15 points and six assists.

The Hawks were playing without three starters -- Trae Young (finger), Jalen Johnson (ankle) and Saddiq Bey (knee) -- and backup center Onyeka Okongwu (toe).

The Celtics jumped out to a lead quickly against the short-handed Hawks. Boston shot 66.7 percent from the field (16-for-24) in the first quarter, didn't commit a turnover and led 44-22. It was the most points Atlanta has allowed in a first quarter this season.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Atlanta
Jayson Tatum 37 Scoring De'Andre Hunter 24
Payton Pritchard 6 Assists Dejounte Murray 15
Al Horford 9 Rebounds Clint Capela 12
Jayson Tatum 9 Free Throws Made De'Andre Hunter 4
Jaylen Brown 2 Steals Dejounte Murray 3
Kristaps Porzingis 3 Blocks Clint Capela 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Boston 118 49.5 11-38 13-19 21 38 8 7 9
Atlanta 120 52.9 18-36 10-17 30 44 3 5 13
Upcoming Games
  • Atlanta will play their next game at home against Portland. The Hawks have a W/L % of .516 after a win and .400 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game on the road against Atlanta. The Celtics have a W/L % of .776 after a win and .857 after a loss.