Key Moment
Jaylen Brown made a clutch shot with a defender draped all over him.
Six seconds later, Dejounte Murray one-upped him.
Right after Brown drained a pullup jumper from the right elbow to push the Celtics ahead by one with 6.6 seconds left in overtime, Murray answered with the biggest shot of the night at the other end. Out of a timeout, Murray went one-on-one with Jrue Holiday and created just enough space to get off a jumper from straight away and 21 feet out ahead of the buzzer. This shot, which marked Murray’s 44th of the night, swished through the net despite the fact that Holiday’s left hand was touching Murray’s stomach as he rose up from the ground, and despite the fact that Holiday contested the shot perfectly with that same left hand.
Murray’s shot fell through the net with 0.1 seconds remaining on the clock to provide Atlanta with a 123-122 lead. Boston called for a timeout and advanced the ball to midcourt, but the chances of converting on a lob to the rim with that much time remaining was nearly zero percent. Derrick White wound up lobbing the ball in and he actually made a shot from out of bounds. That is technically a turnover, which sealed Atlanta’s fourth straight win.
Key Player
Jayson Tatum logged the trifecta Thursday night by leading the Celtics in all three major categories. He led the team in scoring with 31 points, he led the team and tied for the game high in rebounds with 13, and he led Boston with six assists.
That’s not the end of Tatum’s “leader” status in the box score. His nine made field goals tied for the top mark on the team, and his 11 makes and 13 attempts from the free-throw line both led the game.
Box Score Nuggets
- Atlanta scored 28 second-chance points.
- Dejounte Murray led the game with 44 points, and he needed a whopping 44 shot attempts to get there.
- Jayson Tatum led Boston with 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
- Boston outscored Atlanta 27-2 in fast break points.
- Derrick White scored 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 24 points for Atlanta.
- De'Andre Hunter (21 points, 13 rebounds) and Clint Capela (12 points, 13 rebounds) each notched double-doubles for Atlanta.
- The contest featured 41 lead changes, which set a new high for a Celtics game in the play-by-play era (1996).
- Atlanta was called for four technical fouls (two standard techs, and two defensive three-second calls).
- Kristaps Porzingis blocked three shots to lead the game. He also scored 20 points on 20 shot attempts.
Quote of the Night
"Their offensive rating for the game was 1.15, and ours was 1.20, so if we rebound the basketball and hold them to one shot, we win in regulation."
– Joe Mazzulla on Boston allowing Atlanta to grab 17 offensive rebounds