After losing to the Celtics at home last Monday night, the Atlanta Hawks entered Boston trailing by 16 points without superstar point guard Trae Young and defeated the NBA Champions 117-116. It was one of the most improbable wins of the season, and it also put the Hawks ahead of Group C East in the NBA Cup. With tonight’s win, Atlanta now has a real chance to advance to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup.

One of the players excited about Atlanta’s win was Young, who had a lot to say about the Hawks’ performance:

Atlanta shot the ball 100 times. Boston shot the ball 75 times. Atlanta won the rebounding battle 45-34 and had 20 offensive rebounds to Boston’s six. There were other reasons why the Hawks won the game, but winning both of these battles is a huge reason why.

Daniels is starting to make a case for himself as the NBA’s best offseason signing. He was the Hawks’ best player tonight with 28 points on 12-of-21 shooting, seven assists and six steals. Daniels was elite defensively and did a great job running the offense. Daniels has been one of the NBA’s breakout stars this year and had his best game of the season tonight.

Johnson was given the task of being the man to initiate the offense on this play, and he did just that. He completed his career with his second triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. For the Hawks to have a chance, Johnson had to be one of the best players in tonight’s game, and he did just that.

Atlanta has outscored the Celtics 38-12 in bench points, and bench production has been something that has hindered the Hawks in recent games. Onyeka Okongwu scored 15 points and Larry Nance scored 19 points on 5-6 shooting from three-point range. They led the bench and Okongwu of course scored the winning basket. Atlanta can’t win this game without Nance or Okongwu.