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.