Atlanta Dispatches Utah Behind Record Breaking Three-Point Barrage
June 7th, 2028 | Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT.
NBA Finals | Game 6 | Atlanta Hawks (3-2) @ Utah Jazz (2-3)
ATL | 36 | 45 | 27 | 29 | 137
UTA | 33 | 28 | 29 | 32 | 122
The Hawks win their first NBA Championship since moving to the city of Atlanta behind a record breaking 25 team threes and 10 by Trae Young who won the NBA Finals MVP.
| Name | Points | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | FG | 3PT | FT |
| PG Trae Young | 36 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13/22 | 10/16 | 0/0 |
| SG Dyson Daniels | 25 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10/14 | 4/6 | 1/1 |
| SF Zaccharie Risacher | 18 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8/11 | 2/5 | 0/0 |
| PF Jalen Johnson | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 |
| G Kristaps Porzingis | 13 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6/11 | 1/1 | 0/0 |
| G Gary Trent Jr. | 23 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8/17 | 5/9 | 2/2 |
| Total | 137 | 36 | 44 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 55/95(58%) | 25/44(56%) | 3/3(100%) |
| Name | Points | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | FG | 3PT | FT |
| PG Anthony Black | 14 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4/8 | 2/3 | 4/4 |
| SG Dillon Brooks | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4/5 | 2/2 | 2/2 |
| SF Ace Bailey | 48 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 21/35 | 4/12 | 2/3 |
| PF Robert Williams III | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1/2 |
| C Bam Adebayo | 23 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10/13 | 0/1 | 3/4 |
| F PJ Washington | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4/7 | 0/1 | 2/3 |
| Total | 122 | 41 | 34 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 49/88(55%) | 10/23(43%) | 14/18(78%) |
Salt Lake City, UT. - The Utah Jazz raced out to a dominant 21-5 lead to open Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and for one brief moment, it appeared they might force a Game 7 on the strength of their sold-out home crowd.
That all changed when Ace Bailey went to the bench with 17 first-half points and everything quickly unraveled.
Without their primary scorer and offensive initiator, the Jazz's attack completely stalled. The Hawks stormed back behind an explosive performance from Gary Trent Jr., who scored 15 points in the first quarter alone to take a 3 point lead going into the second quarter.
Then it was Trae Young's turn to takeover.
After attempting just one shot in the first quarter—a missed three-pointer—Young he had seen enough. He erupted for 28 points in the second quarter, including 8 three-pointers, single-handedly matching the entire Jazz team's output while outscoring Bailey by 18. By halftime, Atlanta had seized control with an 81-61 lead that felt insurmountable.
The Hawks' offensive display was historically dominant. Atlanta set a new NBA Finals record with 25 made three-pointers while Young broke Stephen Curry's single-game three-pointer record with his 10th three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter—a fitting shot that restored a 21-point Hawks advantage after Bailey had yet again pulled the Jazz within striking distance.
Young finished with an efficient performance that showcased why he led the Hawks to the championship.
To their credit, the Jazz refused to surrender. Led by Bailey and Bam Adebayo, Utah clawed back to within 11 points twice during the game. But every time they mounted momentum, the Hawks' three-point barrage would overwhelm them, pushing the lead back to 20 as quickly as it had closed.
The pattern repeated throughout the second half—Jazz surge, Hawks respond with devastating three-point shooting, Hawks' lead expands.
Bailey acknowledged the futility of the comeback attempts.
"When they're shooting like that, it's nearly impossible to keep pace," Bailey said after the game. "We did what we could early to protect the lead, but once they got hot, it was just raining threes. You can't win that way."
Bailey played a grueling 42 minutes but went just 2-for-8 down the stretch as his legs visibly failed him. The relentless usage rate throughout the playoffs—without secondary scorers George and Thomas—had finally caught up with the young star.
When Joe Mazzulla pulled Bailey with 90 seconds remaining, to a standing ovation from the sold-out Delta Center, the forward sat slumped in his seat, visibly drained. He remained there well after the final buzzer before finally standing to congratulate the Hawks and make his way to the locker room.
It was the image of a player who had given everything and had nothing left.
The game was decided by several statistical disparities. Atlanta's 24 made three-pointers dwarfed Utah's 10. The Hawks scored 28 points off 18 Jazz turnovers while Utah managed just 10 points from 12 Hawks turnovers. Atlanta's bench outscored Utah's 42 to 22—a decisive advantage for an injury-depleted Jazz team with limited depth.
ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson summarized the mismatch succinctly during the broadcast.
"Atlanta was just better," Jefferson said. "When you're without as many players as Utah is, your stars have to do superhuman things. Ace Bailey was transcendent at times this postseason, but the usage rate finally caught up with him. You can only ask one guy to do so much for so long."
The Atlanta Hawks won their first NBA championship since relocating from St. Louis, ending a historic drought for the franchise. Young's record-breaking three-pointer performance and the team's historic shooting night will define this championship run.
For Utah, the journey ends in heartbreak—not from lack of effort, but from an accumulation of injuries, exhaustion, and a Hawks team that simply proved too much to overcome.
Bailey remained reflective during his postgame media availability, the weight of the loss clearly evident.
"I'll be processing this one for a while," Bailey said quietly. "We fought hard. Our team showed a lot of character battling back multiple times. But they were the better team tonight, and they proved it."
The Jazz will begin the long offseason wondering what could have been with a fully healthy roster, while the Hawks celebrate their first championship in franchise history—one built on historic three-point shooting and Trae Young's playoff brilliance.
