Onyeka Okongwu tipped in Dyson Daniels’ missed shot with 6.1 seconds left, and the Atlanta Hawks rallied from 15 points down in the third quarter to beat the defending champion Boston Celtics 117-116.
The Hawks trailed 65-54 at halftime and 75-60 with 8:32 left in the third quarter. They outscored the Celtics 57-41 the rest of the way.
Dyson Daniels threw the ball away with 3.7 seconds left. Jaylen Brown then missed a 13-foot pull-up jumper at the buzzer that would have put them ahead.
During clutch time, the Hawks outscored the Celtics 16-12. Daniels scored 7 of the Hawks’ 16 on 2 for 3 shooting and 2 for 2 at the line. In the fourth quarter, Daniels had 2 of his 6 steals, one of them leading to Keaton Wallace’s driving layup that tied the game at 101, and the Hawks scored 4 points off them.
Daniels had a career-high 28 points (20 in the paint), 7 assists and 6 steals. Clint Capela added 18 points (12 in the paint) and 9 rebounds on 8 for 11 shooting, and Okongwu scored 15 points on 7 for 11 shooting off the bench.
For the Celtics, Brown scored 37 points on 14 for 22 shooting, and Derrick White added 31 points on 10 for 15 shooting. Jayson Tatum had 20 points and 8 assists but shot 5 for 16. The Celtics had 2 30-point scorers.
The Celtics turned it over 20 times, about 8 more than usual for this many possessions. The Hawks outscored the Celtics 68-32 in the paint.