Hawks rally from 30 points down to topple the Celtics… De’Andre Hunter nets 3-pointer in final seconds to complete incredible comeback

De’André Hunter inspired the Hawks to an incredible comeback victory over the Boston Celtics, scoring 24 points, including a last-gasp 3-pointer. when Atlanta came back from a 30-point deficit to win.

tMonday night rallied the Atlanta Hawks who trailed by 22 points after the first quarter, but fought back to secure an impressive 120-118 victory over the NBA-leading Celtics. It was believed to be only the ninth time in NBA history that a team overcame a 30-point deficit to win.

Boston had won 20 of its last 22 games, including the previous nine. And that streak seemed destined to continue at State Farm Arena, when Al Horford put Boston up 68-38 with less than five minutes left in the first half.

But the Hawks, clinging to last place in the East and one of the most disappointing teams in the league, launched a comeback out of nowhere with All-Star guard Trae Young and three other key players sidelined by injuries.

Dejounte Murray put the Hawks ahead to stay within 117-116 with a reverse layup with a minute left. Jaylen Brown missed a desperation 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, and Hunter sealed the score at the other end with a big assist from Clint Capela.

After Murray missed a jumper, Capela grabbed the offensive rebound and spotted Hunter alone at the top of the zone. Even though the shot clock was off and Hunter could have forced the Celtics to foul, he let out an open look from 26 feet. Nothing more than net.

The Celtics got one more basket off an offensive rebound, but the Hawks took advantage of the final 1.5 seconds to pull off their most improbable win of the season against a team that entered the night 25 1/2 games ahead of them in the Conference This. positions.

Atlanta’s comeback began with a 9-0 run late in the first half, which cut the deficit to 74-56 as the teams headed to the locker room.

The momentum carried over into the third quarter, which began with Atlanta winning 19 of the next 23 points to cut the margin to 78-75.

After the Celtics flirted several times with pulling away again, the Hawks finally took their first lead of the night when little-used Wesley Matthews hit a 3-pointer to make it 97-96 with 9:42 left.

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 22 points and Murray contributed 19, but it was several players who are normally buried deep on the bench who really boosted the Hawks.

Vit Krejci scored 16 points, including a 3-pointer that left him shrugging at his teammates like he really couldn’t believe what was happening. Bruno Fernando scored 13 points and Matthews hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers.

The Celtics lost despite Jayson Tatum’s 37 points. Brown added 24.

With many green-clad fans cheering them on in Atlanta, the Celtics doubled the home team in the first quarter by taking a 44-22 lead.

Boston made 16 of 24 shots in the first quarter, including 5 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc, as well as 7 of 7 at the foul line.

Tatum finished the half with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.