'All of a sudden the ball went in': Trae Young hits half-court shot to beat Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY — Patty Mills nearly blacked out from excitement.

With 4.0 seconds left, Collin Sexton saved a broken play when he shook a defender and drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game.

"I was waving my towel, jumping up and down," Mills said. "Then, all of a sudden the ball went in the hoop."

Prior jubilation turned to shock in the blink of an eye. Atlanta's Trae Young pulled up from half court and buried a game-winner as the buzzer sounded to lift Quin Snyder's Hawks to a 124-121 win over the Utah Jazz.

The Hawks poured onto the court to celebrate around Young at midcourt; the Jazz froze where they stood, trying to process what had just happened.

"Those things happen," Mills said. "It's basketball; it's fun."

It was just a bit more fun for the Atlanta Hawks at the end.

"I knew we had three seconds. I could take a couple of dribbles and be closer to half court, and then I made sure I used my legs and put some air into the ball — and that was important," Young said. "I'm just glad it went in."

To be sure, some Jazz fans are glad, too. In some ways, it was the perfect tanking loss — competitive and fun-filled, with clutch moments and still a loss.

The shot capped off a huge performance for Young, who finished with 24 points and a John Stockton-like 20 assists, spoiling some big nights from the Jazz.

Lauri Markkanen had 35 points and made a season-high eight 3-pointers; Walker Kessler had 21 points and 10 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Sexton, meanwhile, scored 24 points and showed he had a bit of a clutch gene — even if his big shot was quickly forgotten.

"Collin made a great play and gave us a chance, and sucks for him as well to make a shot like that and not get it to overtime," Markkanen said. "You always feel like you're going to win it in overtime if you just get there."

Especially with how Sexton's clutch play went.

Utah's inbound pass was deflected, immediately torpedoing the design. Sexton quickly got to the ball and dribbled out to the 3-point line where he made one move to get a bit of space and let it fly.

"Honestly, I'm not afraid of failure, at the end of the day," Sexton said. "At the end of the day, you can't be afraid of those moments, and you gotta shoot it to make it. If it misses, and we live it, we go home and just know I had the guts to shoot."

Unfortunately for the Jazz, Young had those guts, too.

"Honestly, he made a tough shot," Sexton said. "I feel like I maybe could have pressured him up a little bit, but you've got to live with those at the end of the day. If you make it, you make it — it went in. If he shot it three or four more times, I'd do the same exact thing."

Markkanen said if you wanted to nitpick the play, the team could have tried to pressure the ball more and speed Young up, but that comes with the risk of a potential foul against one of the best foul drawers in the NBA.

Sexton had just been called for a foul, too, on Atlanta's previous possession for pressuring Young, so the refs were clearly not swallowing the whistles.

"Yeah, sucks to lose this way, but it's part of it — sometimes he makes it," Markkanen said.

That sometimes just so happened to be Tuesday night at the Delta Center.

"We will watch film and there'll be things to teach like there always is, but this is one you just kind of shake their hand and move on," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "It was a hell of a finish and an incredible shot."

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