THE Atlanta Hawks staged a stunning comeback from 30 points down to beat the NBA-leading Boston Celtics.

Boston led 68-38 with four minutes and 23 seconds to go in the first half.

But De’Andre Hunter led Atlanta’s rally with 24 points, including a late three-pointer, as the Hawks toppled the Eastern Conference leaders 120-118.

“Any time you’re down that much you have to have something out of the ordinary to get back in the game,” said Hawks coach Quin Snyder.

“And when you have a group of people you know who are behind you thick or thin, rain or shine – and there was a lot of rain early – they were a big part of helping the sun come out tonight.”

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Hunter’s three pointer with 10.1 seconds left gave Atlanta a match-winning lead against the Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA with 57 wins and 15 losses and have already secured the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

Jayson Tatum scored on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left for Boston, but the Hawks managed to run out the clock to end the Celtics’ nine-game winning streak.

Bogdan Bogdanovic added 22 points for Atlanta, who remain 10th in the East, while Dejounte Murray finished with 19 points, 15 assists and five rebounds.

No team had successfully come back from a 30-point deficit against the team with the NBA’s best record since the Los Angeles Lakers did so against the Dallas Mavericks in December 2002.
It was also the Hawks’ biggest comeback win in the play-by-play era, which began in 1997-98.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said his team paid the price for not killing the game off and Atlanta’s physicality had caused Boston problems in the second half.

“It’s a good lesson,” he said. “Credit to them for battling back. They were extremely physical as soon as the ball got past half-court and I thought that messed up our offence, and they made us work for everything.”

The teams will meet again in Atlanta tomorrow. (BBC Sport)