BOSTON — Trae Young had 38 points and drained an extended go-ahead 3-pointer from beyond the highest of the important thing with 2.8 seconds left to assist the Atlanta Hawks cap a late comeback and beat the Boston Celtics 119-117 Tuesday night.
The victory trims Boston’s lead within the first-round playoff series to 3-2 and sends the teams back to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday.
John Collins added 22 points for Atlanta, who played without Dejounte Murray, who was suspended for one game for bumping official Gediminas Petraitis along with his chest while walking off the court after the tip of Game 4.
Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and Jayson Tatum added 19 for the Celtics, who were outscored 37-25 within the fourth quarter.
Derrick White put the Celtics in front 117-116 with 7.3 second remaining, establishing a final possession for the Hawks. The ball went to Young within the backcourt, who dribbled into the front court and knocked down a 29-footer over Brown. The Hawks hit 19 3-pointers in the sport.
The Celtics bobbled their initial inbounds pass and had one other probability with 0.5 seconds left, but Tatum’s fading 3-point try found only air as time expired.
Brown, who has been recovering from a late-season facial fracture, went unmasked for many of the Celtics’ victory in Game 4, saying he found energy after taking it off during a 31-point scoring night.
He wore it again for Game 5 and maintained the identical intensity, leading all scorers with 23 first-half points and connecting on 10 of his first 13 shots.
Atlanta trailed by 13 before trying the sport at 111 on a 3-pointer Young.
Boston pushed the ball up the court and got the ball to Robert Williams, who dropped in a layup. He was fouled but missed his ensuing free throw.
The rating was still 113-111 when Young drove and was fouled by Al Horford. Tatum took issue with the decision and was whistled for a technical foul. Young hit all three free throws to place the Hawks in front 114-113.
Brown turned it over, then misfired on a driving layup. Atlanta’s next possession resulted in a jump ball that was controlled by Boston. Williams scored on a layup to place the Celtics back within the lead with 25 seconds left.
Young was fouled again with 15.8 seconds remaining and connected on two more free throws.
The Celtics called a timeout. The following play wound up with White driving to the basket. He was fouled and went to the road for what proved to be the game-winning free throws.
With Murray out, Young picked up the offensive slack and helped Atlanta keep pace early, scoring nine of Hawks’ first 13 points.
