Hawks beat the odds, win right to choose No. 1 overall in draft
The lottery was held Sunday and the Atlanta Hawks beat the odds, winning the top overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft.
It is the first time the Hawks have won the top choice via draft lottery. They had the No. 1 overall pick in 1975, via the New Orleans Jazz, and selected David Thompson.
The Hawks (36-46) had just a 3 percent chance to get the top choice, as opposed to a 65.91 percent chance at picking tenth.
Washington, which had the second-worst record in the NBA at 15-67 this season, will pick second.
Houston (41-41) will select third with San Antonio (22-60) at No. 4.
Despite having the league’s worst record at 14-68, and the best odds at winning the lottery, Detroit fell all the way to the fifth choice.
Next are Charlotte (No. 6), Portland (No. 7), the Spurs (No. 8, from Toronto), Memphis (No. 9) and Utah (No. 10).
Chicago will pick 11th, followed by Oklahoma City (12th, via Houston), Sacramento (13th) and Portland (14th, via Golden State).
MONDAY’S GAMES
Boston seeks another road win: The Celtics will seek back-to-back road victories over Cleveland on Monday when the teams play Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals (7 p.m., TNT).
After splitting the first two games of the best-ofseven series in Boston, the top-seeded Celtics took a 2-1 series lead with a 106-93 road victory Saturday night. That bounce-back victory came after the fourth-seeded Cavaliers won Game 2 in Boston, 118-94.
After allowing 28 points in the opening quarter Saturday, Boston held
For summaries and complete scores go to the eEdition at MiamiHerald.com.
SECOND ROUND
(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
BOSTON 2, CLEVELAND 1
G1: Boston 120, Cleveland 95
G2: Cleveland 118, Boston 94
G3: Boston 106, Cleveland 93
Monday: at Cleveland, 7
Wednesday: at Boston, 7 x-Friday: at Cleveland, 8:30 x-Sunday, May 19: at Boston, TBA
INDIANA 2, NEW YORK 2
G1: New York 121, Indiana 117
G2: New York 130, Indiana 121
G3: Indiana 111, New York 106
Sunday: Indiana 111, New York 106 Tuesday: at New York, 8
Friday: at Indiana, TBA x-Sunday, May 19: at New York, 3:30
WESTERN CONFERENCE
DALLAS 2, OKLAHOMA CITY 1
G1: Oklahoma City 117, Dallas 95
G2: Dallas 119, Oklahoma City 110
G3: Dallas 105, Oklahoma City 101 Monday: at Dallas, 9:30
Wednesday: at Oklahoma City, 9:30 x-Saturday: at Dallas, 8:30 x-Monday, May 20: at Oklahoma City, TBA
MINNESOTA 2, DENVER 1
G1: Minnesota 106, Denver 99
G2: Minnesota 106, Denver 80
G3: Denver 117, Minnesota 90
Sunday: at Minnesota
Tuesday: at Denver, 10:30 x-Thursday: at Minnesota, 8:30 x-Sunday, May 19: at Denver, TBA
Cleveland to 65 points the rest of the way. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points to lead the Cavaliers but appeared to aggravate a left knee injury in the fourth quarter. Mitchell left the court with 1:19 to play and walked straight to the locker room. His status for Monday’s game was not announced.
Mavs find scoring help: Dallas appears to have found a third scoring threat to join stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving at just the right time.
Fifth-year forward P.J. Washington looks to continue his impressive run when Dallas hosts Oklahoma City in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series Monday (9:30 p.m., TNT).
Washington made five 3-pointers and finished with 27 points in Saturday’s 105-101 home victory to help give the Mavericks a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Doncic had 22 points and 15 rebounds; Irving also had 22 points.