New York, (EFE).- The Emirates NBA Cup started its second edition with a surprise victory in Boston, as the Celtics, current NBA champions, lost 116-117 to the Atlanta Hawks without Trae Young.
It was a very poor performance by the Celtics (9-3), who lost 20 balls and also allowed 20 offensive rebounds for the Hawks (5-7). One of those offensive rebounds was decisive, since Onyeka Okongwu, after a miss from his teammate Dyson Daniels, achieved a tap-in to put Atlanta one point ahead with 6.1 seconds left.
Within a very unfortunate night, Boston’s ending was appropriate for that script: Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum did not understand each other and lost the ball. The Celtics managed to regain possession after a timeout with 3.7 seconds left, but Jaylen Brown missed at the buzzer.
Daniels (28 points and 7 assists) and Jalen Johnson (triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) led the Hawks’ assault in Boston.
Brown (37 points) and Derrick White (31 points and 6 rebounds) led the Celtics who wasted a +15 in the third quarter and suffered an unfortunate version of Tatum (20 points on 5 of 16 shooting).
