The NBA regular season continues with the Hawks sitting at home today to take on the Celtics. With Trae Young out and the Green Army the league's No. 1 powerhouse, they thought it would be a one-sided game, but in the end Murray stepped up. He carried from the first quarter to the last quarter, and finally went on a rampage in overtime, scoring 44 points + the first in the league. Not only that, but Murray broke the first record in team history in 53 years, and the Hawks picked up a treasure of $120 million.
The Celtics had perfect depth and Tatum played decently, finishing with 31 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists on 9-of-22 shooting. The stats were beautiful, but the shot was missed. Brown was more efficient, chipped in 18 points and four assists. White also did his job, contributing 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists across the board. Holiday had 13 points and 7 rebounds, and center Porzingis also had 20 points + 7 rebounds. Bench Pritchard and Hauser combined for 12 points, leaving the rest of the squad lackluster.
On the Hawks side, the forward combination broke out in this game. Bogdanovic finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists on 9-of-19 shooting. Hunter also made 5 three-pointers and grabbed a double-double of 21+13 rebounds. Center Capela played well, also handed in 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the bench players played averagely, Matthews 3 points, Fernando 6 points, Garrison 7 points, but they all did their job well.
The reason why the Hawks were able to beat the Celtics on the next gram was because of Dejounte Murray. He played 47 minutes today and digested Trae Young's share of the shot. He shot 18 of 44 from the field and scored 44 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. In overtime, he scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, taking all of the Hawks' scores, while the Celtics scored only 10 points as a team. Especially in the final moments, he dominated the game by facing Holiday and throwing in a soluntible shot.
On the NBA stage, digesting the ball is not a simple matter, especially when leading the team with a single core, Murray faced the defense of Holiday + White all over the court, and finally made a crazy 44 shots. He also broke the Eagles' all-time record in 55 years and became the star with the most shots in a single game. The Hawks also have legends such as Pettit, Maravich, Wilkins, Mutombo, Trae Young and so on, but Murray still broke the franchise record.
The inexplicable part is not that he made 44 shots, but that he digested these balls, and finally scored 11 points + stunner in overtime, which is definitely a phenomenal performance. So far this season, Murray has averaged 22.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. The Hawks signed Murray for $120 million in the previous four years, and they definitely picked up a treasure.