Trae Young scored in the closing seconds as the Atlanta Hawks clawed their way back into their first-round NBA playoff series against the Miami Heat.
Young scored with 4.4 seconds remaining to give Atlanta a 111-110 win to cut the deficit in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series to 2-1.
–
The reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 111-81 to go up 2-1 in their series.
The Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans 2-1.
The Suns won 114-111 despite the absence of Devin Booker (hamstring) with Chris Paul scoring 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter while Deandre Ayton added 28 points and 17 rebounds while holding off a 34-point performance. from Brandon of the Pelicans. Ingram.
In Atlanta, where the game was delayed more than a half hour after a suspicious package was found outside the Hawks’ arena, PJ Tucker’s 3-pointer with less than a minute left had put the Heat up 110-109. looking at a 3-0 lead.
No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.
But Young drove to the lane and floated to the basket that made the difference, while Miami’s Jimmy Butler saw his last-gasp 3 bounce off the rim.
“I just wanted to try and get to the basket,” said Young, who finished with 24 points.
“I knew there were only 10 seconds left. I didn’t want to settle for a triple. So I tried to get to the rim and get a foul or a layup.”
The Hawks, who have won 21 of their last 24 home games, will host Game 4 on Sunday.
In Chicago, the Bucks shrugged off Khris Middleton’s injury absence to pull off a comfortable victory.
Grayson Allen scored 22 points off the bench, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis each had 18 points and a strong defensive display by the Bucks reduced DeMar DeRozan to just 11 points.
–
–
