Trae Young scored 32 points in his best game of the postseason and the Atlanta Hawks regained hope by beating the Boston Celtics 130-122 on Friday to close the gap in the opening postseason series to 2-1.
Young hit a step-back 3-pointer with 2:21 left on the clock and had another big basket on a floater down the line with 45 seconds left after Jaylen Brown missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.
The Hawks, who came in as the seventh seed, will try to tie the series against the second-placed Celtics in Game 4 of the series on Sunday.
Jayson Tatum had 29 points to lead Boston, which was virtually unchallenged in the first two games.
Young was on fire after shooting just 14 of 40 from the field in Boston. He improved in Game 3 and connected on 12 of 22 attempts to go along with nine assists.
Unlike the first two in games in which Boston led to a 13-point win, the Hawks finally gave them a fight.
For the Celtics, Dominican Al Horford contributed eight points, four rebounds and three assists.