Trae Young scored 26 but the Hawks lost to the Celtics 129-120 in Boston Saturday afternoon.
Kyrie Irving had 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and the Celtics held on after blowing a 25-point second-half lead.
The game provided an interesting matchup between Irving and Young. They went at each other from the start, pleasing the crowd with Irving scoring 12 points mostly on drives and jumpers in the opening quarter and Young driving hard at the veteran guard along with a deep 3 for nine points in the period.
"To have that competitive spirit, I love it," Irving said. "If someone scores at me, I'm going right back at them."
John Collins scored 20 with 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Taurean Price had 17 points and Vince Carter scored 16.
Jaylen Brown scored 23 points with a key 3-pointer for Boston. Marcus Morris had 19 points and Jayson Tatum 18 for the Celtics, who have won six of eight.
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward suffered a strained neck early in the game and didn't return. Hayward banged his head into the shoulder of Collins, who was setting a screen, and looked dazed before he went to the locker room.
After Boston squandered the 25-point lead, Brown nailed his 3 from the right corner, sparking a 9-0 spurt that gave the Celtics a 121-112 edge with 3 minutes left.
The Celtics held their big lead late in the third but got just one basket in 7 minutes - on a three-point play by Tatum - when the Hawks outscored them 28-6 to cut it to 109-106 on Young's 3-pointer with 7:25 to play.
"It's maddening because what happened in the end of third, early fourth, was they ratcheted up their pressure and we were on our heels and you could see it," Boston coach Brad Stevens said.
Atlanta tied it at 112 on Kent Bazemore's two free throws.
"We've been doing that a lot throughout this year,” Young said. “We get down big, then we have to fight our way back into the game. I think what happened today was we ran out of gas."
Boston led by 12 at halftime and went on a 15-3 run midway into the third to push its lead to 103-78 on Irving's step-back 3-pointer from the left wing.
But Atlanta had a 14-2 spree late in the quarter, slicing it to 105-92.
"To be down (25) in the third and to tie the ballgame up is a testament to the guys in that locker room — young, old, whatever you want to call them," Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said.
The Celtics started hot from the floor and were shooting 66.7 percent late in the second quarter when they opened a 16-point lead (66-50). They carried that into a 74-62 edge at intermission, matching their season high for points in any half.
Early in the second quarter, the 42-year-old Carter was the Hawks’ best offensive weapon, scoring eight points on 3-of-4 shooting while making both of his 3-point attempts.
"I hated playing Vince Carter today," Stevens joked. "As a 42-year-old I love noon tips. I'm sure he does. I knew he'd go off."
The Hawks play at Orlando on Sunday night.
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