NBA playoffs: Atlanta’s Trae Young drops 32 pts on Boston, Hawks claw back to cut Celtics lead 2-1

Atlanta’s Trae Young finally made an appearance in the NBA postseason, trailing Boston by 32 points as the Hawks scrambled back to cut the Celtics’ lead to 2–1 in the first round.

Young, who was anonymously named the league’s most overrated player by his peers, according to a report on Thursday, shot 12-22 from the field and was just one assist (9) away from earning a double-double in Atlanta’s 130-122 win on Friday.

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum finished with 29 points in Game 3. He struggled to be productive all night and went 9-22 (40.9 percent) off the field despite getting 10 boards for his team.

Hawks guard Dejounte Murray was Atlanta’s second leading scorer of the night, with 25 points.

Unlike the first two games in Boston, where the Celtics pushed to big lead and raced to a pair of 13-point wins, the Hawks finally fought.

With Derrick White forced to the bench with two quick errors early on, the Hawks took advantage of a gap in Boston’s defense to get things going. Atlanta knocked down 30 of 46 shots (65.2 percent) in the first half.

Pumped up by a standing-only crowd, the Hawks built a 14-point lead late in the second quarter—their biggest of the series.

But the Celtics responded with eight consecutive points and went 74–67 down in the locker room at the halfway mark.

Bogdan Bogdanovic fired a shot to the face on Malcolm Brogdan’s lay-in early in the fourth quarter. Bogdanovic knelt in pain and was out during a timeout.

Young hit a step-back 3-pointer from the corner with 2:21 left after both teams went on to 26 points each in the third.

The Hawks point guard knocked down another huge basket on a float in the lane with 45 seconds left after Jaylen Brown missed a three-pointer that would have tied the Celtics.

Young’s heroics in Game 3 came after taking only 14 of 40 shots in Beantown.

Friday night’s win was Atlanta’s first victory over Boston this season. The Hawks dropped all three regular season meetings.

The seventh-seeded Hawks will attempt to tie the series against the second-seeded Celtics in Game 4 at State Farm Arena on Sunday night.

The Hawks still face big odds. They are 0-26 in playoff series over the franchise’s 74-season history in losing the first two games.