Jalen Johnson (career-best 41 points) and Tyrese Maxey (44 points) put on a show in monster performances as Dyson Daniels’ Atlanta Hawks outlasted the Philadelphia 76ers 142-134 in double overtime.
Daniels (17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals) turned in a well-rounded performance and flirted with his first career-triple double in 44 minutes of Monday’s thriller (all times AEDT).
But Johnson and Maxey took centre stage, trading buckets at either end of the floor to lead their respective teams.
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Maxey’s 3-pointer forced overtime and the sides went back and forth in the first extra period.
The star Sixers guard missed a crucial chance to ice the game for the hosts after missing a pair of free throws when Philly was up 126-124 with 4.6 left.
Johnson drew a foul at the other end and calmly sank two clutch free throws to send the game into a second OT.
The rising Hawks star scored seven of his side’s 16 points in the second OT including huge back-to-back triples. Johnson then assisted a Daniels layup to push Atlanta’s lead out to 140-134 with under a minute left.
The Sixers wouldn’t score again, with both sides fatigued at that point as the Hawks pulled out a big road victory.
Johnson filled up the box score with 41 points on 17-of-22 free throw shooting, four threes, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 45 minutes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 34 points.
Maxey had 44 points on 14-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds and nine assists in 52 minutes. Joel Embiid posted 18 points and 30 minutes in his return after missing nine games because of injuries.
It marked a fourth Hawks win from their last five games to climb to No.5 in the East at 12-8 overall.
They face a huge test with a tough back-to-back road trip in Detroit against the East’s No. 1 seeded Pistons on Tuesday.
It comes after Atlanta confirmed Trae Young would be re-evaluated in around two weeks for an sprained MCL that’s sidelined the All-Star guard since October 29.
CAVS RALLY FALLS SHORT BUT PROCTOR IMPRESSES
Cleveland’s late rally against Boston fell short in a 117-115 loss, but Aussie rookie Tyrese Proctor impressed.
Proctor was productive off the bench with eight points, two threes and four assists as a +10 — the second-best plus/minus of any Cavaliers player — to help spark the home side’s late charge.
Cleveland was down 86-65 with 4:56 left in the third quarter, before it went on a 23-6 run capped off by a spirited Proctor’s three early in the fourth term.
Proctor scored five points early in the final period including that triple to get the Cavs within 92-88 with 9:44 left in the ball game.
The Aussie shot it from deep with confidence in a great sign after Boston’s defence was focused on Donovan Mitchell at the perimeter.
“I’m really high on this young man, I think he’s going to be an excellent pro and excellent player for the Cavaliers,” commentator Brad Daugherty said.
“I love the moxy of this young man, he’s going to step up and hit a big shot wide open.
“Because he is that type of player and that is the type of player we need on this Cavaliers team — a confident player on the offensive end and not afraid of the moment.
“When he’s open, you better guard him, because he’s going to shoot it, and he’s going to make it.”
Boston grew its lead back out to 112-104 after a pair of Payton Pritchard free throws with 1:24 remaining as the visitors looked all but home.
But Mitchell got hot down the stretch with consecutive threes and a Darius Garland triple with 1.2 seconds left made it a one-point Cavs deficit at 116-115.
Jaylen Brown split a pair of free throws as Cleveland got one last chance to win or tie the game with only 0.6 on the clock, but Evan Mobley didn’t even get the deep jumper up in time.
Pritchard’s 42 points led the 11-9 Celtics and Brown added a triple-double (19 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists).
Mobley top-scored for Cleveland with 27 points to go with 14 rebounds as Kenny Atkinson’s side dropped its third-straight game to fall to 12-9 overall in an indifferent start to the season.
ALL RESULTS
Rockets 129 Jazz 101
Celtics 117 Cavaliers 115
Raptors 94 Knicks 116
Hawks 142 76ers 134 (2OT)
Thunder 123 Trail Blazers 115
Spurs 112 Timberwolves 125
Grizzlies 115 Kings 107
Pelicans 121 Lakers 133
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