Watch: Hawks' Dejounte Murray throws down massive dunk
Dejounte Murray is normally known for his defense. In the Hawks' play-in game against the Chicago Bulls, Murray kept Atlanta in it with his scoring.
Murray threw down a huge dunk in the third quarter to cut Chicago's lead to five points. He had 28 points through three quarters, easily leading his Hawks teams.
When his backcourt partner Trae Young needed to have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his pinkie finger, Murray stepped up as a scorer. After the Young injury, Murray upped his scoring average to 24.6 points per game, while also dishing 8.7 assists. Wednesday, he single-handedly brought the Hawks back from an 18-point deficit in the second quarter, scoring or assisting on every basket in a 14-0 run.
That continued in the play-in game, where Young may have returned but didn't have his shot back. A few minutes after his dunk, Young shot an air ball from three-point range. Through three quarters, the Hawks were -30 with Young on the court.
Murray didn't get any help from teammate De'Andre Hunter, who missed his first nine shots. In fact, his only productive teammate was center Clint Capela, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds through three quarters, plus a great save and pass for Hunter's dunk.
Even with Murray's scoring, the Hawks trailed by 18 points after three. While Young has long been the Hawks' franchise player, Wednesday's game suggests they might want to focus on Murray long-term instead. And perhaps move on from Hunter as well.
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