Atlanta Defeats the Raptors at the buzzer in OT

Trae Young’s alley-oop to A.J. Griffin at the overtime buzzer helped the Atlanta Hawks improve to 10-6 after a 124-122 win Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Griffin said. He scored eight points of his 17 points in overtime on 8-15 shooting.

The victory was bittersweet for Griffin, whose dad, Adrian Griffin Sr., is the assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors.

“I know he’s proud of me at the same time,” said Griffin. “I feel like our family is rooting for all of us. Just to be able to both be here on the same stage. It’s 1-1 now, but for that next game, we’ll see who takes it.”

Saturday’s matchup was the second of three meetings with the Raptors this year. Atlanta is 50-51 all-time against the Raptors, 27-24 at home.

Young led all scorers with 33 points and 12 assists. Clint Capela added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks.

After Atlanta trailed by as many as seven points in the third, De’Andre Hunter came up big in the fourth quarter and helped narrow Atlanta’s deficit.

Hunter finished with 22 points and five rebounds.

“He was 0-7 in the first half, and he couldn’t make a shot. He stayed with it and got to the free throw line. Sometimes when guys don’t have a good first half, they feel like it’s not their night. He stayed with it,  we stayed with him, and he came through big for us in the second half,” said Atlanta’s Head Coach, Nate McMillan.

The Hawks will play at Cleveland on Monday, returning to the State Farm Arena to host the Sacramento Kings Wednesday, Nov.23.