Trae Young lifts Hawks past Mavericks in overtime, 132-130

ATLANTA (AP)— Trae Young made two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining inovertime to give Atlanta the lead and the Hawks beat the DallasMavericks 132-130 on Sunday night to keep pace in the EasternConference play-in race.

Young wasfouled by Kyrie Irving, who scored 41 points, with the game tied at130. Following Young’s free throws, Luke Doncic, who scored 22points, missed a last-second 3-pointer.

The Hawks(39-39) moved back into eighth place in the play-in race. Torontoand Chicago put pressure on the Hawks with wins before Atlanta’sgame. The Hawks have the tiebreaker advantage over Toronto.

The Hawksentered the game only a half-game ahead of the 10th-place Bulls forthe final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.

Dallas(37-42) remained 11th in the Western Conference, one spot out ofthe play-in.

Irving’smid-range jumper with 37 seconds remaining in regulation tied thegame at 121. Saddiq Bey’s layup gave the lead back to Atlanta.

ChristianWood was fouled by John Collins and made one free throw beforemissing the second with 1.2 seconds remaining. With 0.4 secondsremaining, Atlanta’s Clint Capela fouled JaVale McGee near thebasket as McGee reached for Doncic’s inbound pass. McGee missed thefirst free throw and made the second to tie the game at 123 andforce overtime.

John Collins’3-pointer, followed by Clint Capela’s jam, gave Atlanta an 84-74lead midway through the third period. The Hawks stretched theadvantage to 15 points at 91-76, but Dallas used a 15-3 run toclose the deficit to 94-91 entering the final period.

Hawks smallforward De’Andre Hunter missed his second consecutive game after anMRI on Saturday revealed a bone bruise and muscle strain in hisleft knee.

Hawks coachQuin Snyder said Hunter is “a unique player and very important ...for his ability to take a defensive matchup.” Snyder said beforethe game Hunter would have been valuable in the matchups againstthe Mavericks, where the presence of small forward Tim Hardaway Jr.makes it more difficult to devote extra defensive attention toDoncic and Irving.

TIP-INS

Mavericks:Coach Jason Kidd made a pregame plea for improved contributionsfrom his bench “on both ends.” It was part of his emphasis onimproved overall defensive play. “It’s effort. It’s grit,” Kiddsaid. “It’s what you want to do as much as energy.” Kidd complainedthe Mavs’ defense was “nonexistent” in a 129-122 loss at Miami onSaturday night. ... Christian Wood had 18 points and 11rebounds.

Hawks: SaddiqBey had 13 points as the fill-in starter for Hunter. ... Capela had14 points and 11 rebounds.

UPNEXT

Mavericks:Begin streak of three straight home games to finish regular seasonwhen they host Sacramento on Wednesday night.

Hawks: AtChicago on Tuesday night.