BOSTON -- Just one game into this year's NBA Cup, the Boston Celtics are already facing an uphill battle in their quest to make it to Las Vegas. The Celtics were completely outplayed by the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, and have a lot of work to do to simply make it to the Knockout round of the NBA's second annual in-season tournament.

In the opening matchup of the 2025 NBA Cup, the game went down to the wire in the Atlanta Hawks showdown against the Boston Celtics. Down 115-116 during their final offensive possession, Hawks forward David Roddy drove to the basket in the pursuit of a game-winning bucket but was unable to connect,

The Hawks stunned the Boston Celtics in the first game of the Emirates NBA Cup. The Hawks would play without Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kobe Bufkin, De’Andre Hunter, and Vit Krejci. Trae Young was added to the injury report and was unavailable for this game.

Cam Thomas had 17 points, while Ziaire Williams — standing in for injured Dorian Finney-Smith — led the Nets with 23. It was Williams who spotted the Nets to an early 19-8 lead with a layup. It was still 58-55 after Schroder (16 points) made a free throw with 3:21 left in the half.

Celtics guard Derrick White dribbles down the green court, in place for the NBA Cup, at TD Garden ... Will “the boys wear black” again when they return to Boston? We’ll see when they play on a more typical court Saturday, Nov. 16, against the ...

On Tuesday night, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla walked into his pregame press conference with a sweatshirt that featured the word “MINDSET” in a large, bold font. He donned the same sweatshirt after the Celtics were stunned by the shorthanded Atlanta Hawks,