Young's buzzer-beating jumper lifts Hawks past Nets 129-127

Updated Feb. 26, 2023 5:44 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young sank a buzzer-beating jumper over Spencer Dinwiddie to lift the Atlanta Hawks to a 129-127 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

Young finished with 34 points for the Hawks, who recovered after blowing an 18-point lead to overcome four Nets scorers with at least 20 points.

Cam Johnson had 27 points for Brooklyn, including a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 127 with 7.8 seconds remaining. Mikal Bridges scored 24 for the Nets, who have lost four of five. Cam Thomas added 22 points and Dinwiddie had 20.

Dorian Finney-Smith's 3 for Brooklyn with 48 seconds remaining cut Atlanta's lead to 127-124.

Atlanta won its second consecutive game under interim coach Joe Prunty after Nate McMillan was fired Tuesday. General manager Landry Fields said former Utah coach Quin Snyder is a candidate to replace McMillan.

Dejounte Murray scored 28 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 22 for Atlanta. Bogdanovic's three 3-pointers early in the second quarter helped Atlanta take a 50-32 lead. Thomas had 11 points in the period, helping the Nets trim the Hawks' lead to 64-57 at halftime.

Brooklyn kept its momentum to open the second half, taking a 78-73 lead. Onyeka Okongwu scored the final four points of the third period as Atlanta took a 97-94 advantage into the final period.

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn stuck with his starters after the first five combined for only 34 points as the team set a season scoring low in an ugly 131-87 loss at Chicago on Friday night.

Before the game, Vaughn said he's looking for consistency and a balance of offense and defense. He said Finney-Smith, who had only two points against the Bulls, is “one of our best defenders we have on the team.”

“It’s pretty tough to take him out of the lineup when there’s other offensive guys he’s covering sins up for,” said Vaughn of Finney-Smith.

TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE

When asked how many practices he has had with the team since the All-Star break, Vaughn referred to the blowout loss to the Bulls as “a scrimmage with referees.”

TIP-INS

Nets: C Nic Claxton, from the University of Georgia, had four steals, three blocked shots and 11 rebounds. ... G Ben Simmons (left knee soreness) missed his second consecutive game.

Hawks: F John Collins returned with 12 points after missing one game while on concussion protocol. Collins was questionable with lower back tightness and cleared to start after pregame warmups.

UP NEXT

Nets: Host Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

Hawks: Host Washington on Tuesday night.

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