Trae Young scored 32 points and Dejounte Murray added 25 as the hot-shooting Hawks beat the Boston Celtics 130-122 for their first win in their NBA first-round playoff series on Saturday (all times AEST).

The Celtics’ two convincing victories had the Hawks on the ropes and returning home for two games in Atlanta knowing no NBA team has come back from 3-0 down to win a best-of-seven playoff series.

The Hawks made sure they won’t have to as Young shook off two sub-par performances with a stellar display.

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“I just needed to make the right plays,” Young said. “Our whole team was making plays all night and it was up to me to go make the right one. It’s not only to score, sometimes its to get everybody involved.

“So I’m just trying to make the right play and tonight I did.” Young connected on 12-of-22 shots from the field, pulled down six rebounds and handed out nine assists.

He also produced a pair of blocks as the Hawks out-hustled the second-seeded Celtics – runners-up to the champion Golden State Warriors last year.

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston. Marcus Smart added 24 and Jalen Brown had 15 for the Celtics, who drained 21 three-pointers but were out-rebounded 48-29.

The Hawks had 23 second-chance points to Boston’s nine and outscored them 54-40 in the paint.

They shot 67.4% from the field in the first half and shot 56% for the game overall, Boston managing only for short stretches in the second half to turn up the defensive volume.

Atlanta will try to level the series when they host game four on Monday.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the New York Knicks took down the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-79 at Madison Square Garden to go up 2-1 Eastern Conference series.

In Minnesota, Western Conference top seeds the Denver Nuggets extended their series lead to 3-0 against the Timberwolves with a 120-111 win.

Mike Malone’s team is now one win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

FRESH EMBIID INJURY BLOW AS LEONARD RULED OUT AGAIN

The Philadelphia 76ers will try to complete their NBA playoff sweep of the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday without star centre Joel Embiid, who has been ruled out with a right knee sprain.

Embiid was injured in Friday’s 102-97 victory over the Nets, noticeably limping in the late stages of the victory as he finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and a crucial blocked shot with eight seconds left in the game.

An MRI exam on Saturday revealed the extent of the injury, and the 76ers confirmed in their injury report that he was out of the contest.

It’s the latest injury to shadow the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers announcing earlier on Saturday that two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard would miss a second straight game with a sprained right knee when the Clippers host the Phoenix Suns in game four of their series on Sunday.

Leonard had 38 points, five rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal in the Clippers’ 115-110 game one win in Phoenix. He had 31 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals in their game two defeat and sat out their game three loss.

Leonard’s absence is a huge blow to a Clippers team already expecting to be without injured star Paul George for the entire first round.

Milwaukee’s two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Memphis Grizzlies All-Star guard Ja Morant have also been sidelined.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Antetokounmpo was “doing everything he can to make himself available to play” after suffering a bruised back in a collision with Miami’s Kevin Love in game one of their series.

Meanwhile, Miami’s Tyler Herro had surgery on Saturday on the broken right hand he suffered in the opening game of that series.

The Sixers will be hoping Embiid will be ready to return before long. They take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Nets into game four in Brooklyn knowing no NBA team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.

ALL RESULTS

CELTICS 122 HAWKS 130

CAVALIERS 79 KNICKS 99

NUGGETS 120 – TIMBERWOLVES 111