Throughout the first three games between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks, Dejounte Murray has been playing at a high level.
While Trae Young is often considered to be the Hawks’ best player, it’s Murray whose been making the biggest impact and creating opportunities for his teammates. When speaking to the media following an April 23 practice session, All-Star wing Jayson Tatum discussed Murray’s recent level of play.
“He’s always attacking,” Tatum said. “Putting constant pressure on us. He’s made some tough shots. But, he’s been aggressive throughout the season so far.”
Murray, 26, was acquired by the Hawks last summer as the front office looked to add a defensive-minded guard alongside Young in a bid to bolster their perimeter defense. However, Murray is more than a point-of-attack defender, as he’s been showing throughout the opening games of the Hawks’ first-round playoff series against Boston.
In the three playoff games of the season thus far, Murray is producing a stat line of 26 points, 5.7 assists, and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 51.1% from two-point range and 36% from deep.
Dejounte Murray Was Excited to Face the Celtics
After struggling during the regular season, the Hawks had to qualify for the playoffs via the play-in tournament, where they defeated the Miami Heat to secure their spot against the Celtics in the first round.
During an April 12 post-game press conference, Murray revealed his excitement at facing the reigning Eastern Conference champions, noting how he wants to test himself against the best teams in the league.
“You got guys or people that always say, ‘you want to play this team, you don’t want to play this team,’ you know, obviously Boston’s at the top because they went to the finals last year,” Murray said. “But last year is last year. And,for me personally, I want the best, you know, obviously, just being competitive, and that’s just how I was raised – to want to play the best and obviously, they’re one of the best and it’s gonna be a great series and we’re gonna go out and try to win a series.”
Trae Young Praises Celtics’ Derrick White
In a similar fashion to Dejounte Murray, Derrick White has been the Boston Celtics’ most impactful player of the first round thus far, as the former San Antonio Spurs teammates go head-to-head.
It would appear that White’s recent performances have also impressed Trae Young, as the sharpshooting guard discussed his impact during an April 19 press conference.
“Yeah, he’s just playing great basketball,” Young said. “And he’s opportunistic in some of the things that he does. But he also stands alone. He’s assertive. He’s getting into the lane and attacking the rim. He’s made big threes off the dribble too, which are hard to guard…And you know, there’s a lot of guys that have played well; we got another game coming up at home, so we’re gonna get ready for him.”
The Celtics will face off against the Hawks for the fourth time on April 23, as they look to split their two games in Atlanta, which would allow them to head back to Boston needing just one win to close out the series.
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Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Issues Statement on Hawks’ Dejounte Murray Before Game 4