After completing a lap in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics now have the luxury of spending the home period of the regular season preparing for the NBA playoffs.
But the Celtics now know they can't relax if they face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 44 points, including a go-ahead jumper in the final seconds of overtime, to lead the Hawks to a 123-122 victory over the Celtics on Thursday night (Friday AEDT).
Murray scored all 11 of Atlanta's points in overtime, giving the Hawks their second win over Boston in four days in a matchup of teams that currently hold the No. 1 and No. 10 seeds in the Eastern Conference. Ta.
“This is a really good team,” Boston manager Joe Mazzula said.
Jaylen Brown sank a go-ahead jumper with six seconds left in overtime to give Boston a 122-121 lead, but Murray answered with a jumper over Jrue Holiday.
Before the game, Murray was listed as questionable due to lower back pain.
“I'm just built for those moments. I'm a confident guy,” said Murray, who hit 18 of 44.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had 24 points, DeAndre Hunter had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Atlanta won its fourth straight game, tying its longest winning streak of the season.
Jayson Tatum led Boston with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and Brown had 18 points.
On Monday night, the Hawks rallied to beat the Celtics 120-118 after falling behind by 30 points.
Boston has the best record in the NBA and has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the East.
Atlanta holds the last play-in spot in the East.
If the Hawks finish ninth or 10th in the conference and advance through the play-in tournament, they will face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
The Hawks announced that forward Sadiq Bey, who is already ruled out for the season, underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn anterior important ligament in his left knee.
In New Orleans, Zion Williamson added 28 points and CJ McCollum added 25 points, and the Pelicans defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 107-100.
For New Orleans, Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and 10 rebounds, achieving his 32nd double-double of the season, but the first time in 11 games.
The Pelicans won despite Trey Murphy III having 15 points and 11 rebounds, making 8 of 32 3-pointers and an overall shooting percentage of 39.6 percent (36 of 91). did.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points and 14 rebounds for Milwaukee.
For the Bucks, Damian Lillard scored 20 points and Malik Beasley also hit six threes.
