And if Dejounte Murray won the trophy for the most clutch player of the year? It's possible since the leader of the Hawks signed his third “game winner” last night in 2024! Remember, in January, he achieved the feat of planting two winning baskets in a row. First, a basket two seconds from the end against the Heat, then a buzzer beater against the Magic.
This night, against the Celtics, he splits the pear in two, with a “game winner” planted a tenth from the siren! “It’s in me!” I'm just designed for these moments. I'm a confident guy” he explains.
“Kobe would be proud of that”
While he is injured in his back, and was uncertain before the match, Dejounte Murray is not about to forget this evening since he beats his career points record: 44 points. And to achieve this, he took… 44 shots!
It's simply a franchise record, and the old record was from 1961. That night, former legend Bob Pettit took 41 shots.
“Personally, I don't like stats, and I don't like taking that many shots. I know I was terrible, but Kobe would be proud of this…I'm tired. But in the end, that's what I had to do, and we had a superb victory.” he reacts about his 44 shots.
Trae Young still sitting on the bench, Dejounte Murray has the keys to Atlanta's attack, and he took 19 3-point shots, for only 6 successes. But in overtime, he showed skill (5 out of 8 on shots) to score all his team's points, including this last-second basket on the head of Jrue Holiday.
Already victorious over the Celtics on Tuesday evening after erasing a 30-point deficit, the Hawks prove in passing that they are not content to let the end of the season slip away, and this 10th place in the East. They can still go for 9th place from the Bulls.
No “tanking” at the Hawks
“My teammates and I don’t tank. We're not trying to lose.” Lance Dejounte Murray. “We try to win matches, and see how far we can go. For my back, it's not serious. I owe it to my teammates. If I can play and compete at the highest level, there are no excuses. I love basketball so much, and I owe it to my teammates. »
MVP of the night, Dejounte Murray will undoubtedly not be the best player of the month of March. But his stats say a lot about his influence on the Hawks: 27.1 points, 9.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals on average!
