MIAMI: The Atlanta Hawks earned their sixth straight win in the NBA with Trae Young scoring a three-pointer with 7.4 seconds left in overtime to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 134-132 and overcome a LeBron James triple-double.
James, who put up 39 points for the Lakers along with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, saw his 31-foot three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left come out off the rim as the Lakers fell to a third straight loss.
The game ended tied at 119-119 in regulation after Young’s last-gasp three-point attempt was blocked by Max Christie.
Alongside James, Anthony Davis put up 38 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists but Atlanta were able to match them with Young scoring 31 points and providing 20 assists.
The Hawks bench contributed well with De’Andre Hunter putting up 26 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic adding 20, the pair sinking nine three-pointers between them.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick, whose team have lost seven of their last nine games, said he saw plenty of good signs despite the defeat.
“I told the group that I appreciate their effort, their intent, their energy and truthfully I liked a lot of their execution,” he said.
“We did enough to win a basketball game tonight. Similar to Orlando, similar to Oklahoma City, we did enough to win a basketball game and I’m very appreciative of that.
“You can build on that, you can adjust and scheme, maybe tweak some things late game,” he added.
The Boston Celtics grinded out a 111-105 win over the Milwaukee Bucks with Jayson Tatum leading the way, putting up 34 points.
Tatum added 10 rebounds and five assists in another clutch performance while Jrue Holiday scored 20 points and Sam Hauser helped out with 16 points off the bench.
The victory moves the defending NBA champions to 19-4 and leaves them in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the early season NBA pacesetters, the 20-3 Cleveland Cavaliers.
It was a well-contested battle, befitting a game which could well feature in the playoffs, with neither team managing to get more than eight points ahead while there were 14 lead changes.
The Celtics pulling clear late when Al Horford produced a three-pointer to make it 105-101 before Holiday, on a pass from Tatum, made a 14-foot floater to open up a five-point lead with 25.1 seconds left.
“This was a tough win,” Tatum said. “We didn’t necessarily shoot the ball as well as we wanted to, especially in the first half. But we just... we had to find a way.
“Second half we hit some shots, but we really picked it up on the defensive end and everybody played a part.”
Damian Lillard top-scored with 30 points for the Bucks while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 30, but Milwaukee fell to an 11-11 record.
Paul George, back after a knee injury, scored 21 points and provided nine assists for the Philadelphia 76ers in their 102-94 win over the Orlando Magic.
The 76ers were again without Joel Embiid, who is dealing with a knee problem, as they split a home series with the Magic after a defeat without George on Wednesday.
K.J. Martin was key for the 76ers as he delivered 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting after coming off the bench.
The Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls 132-123 with Tyrese Haliburton top-scoring with 23 points and Pascal Siakam putting up 21.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 32 points but could not stop Chicago falling to 10-14, the same record as the Pacers.
