Dejounte Murray echoes Kobe Bryant after shooting all the shots in win over Celtics

Despite facing injuries to numerous players, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics behind a 44-point performance from Dejounte Murray.

“I don’t wanna take that many shots but I know Kobe would be proud of me," Murray said after the game.

Despite getting to 44 points, the one-time All-Star had a peak Kobe Bryant game with the guard taking 44 shots and only making 40 percent of them. Two of those 44 points ended up being a near buzzer-beater that was the game-winning shot in overtime.

To be fair, Murray didn't really have a lot of great options to share the ball with in this game as the team was missing Trae Young and Jalen Johnson. The squad was also coming off a back-to-back and seemed extremely gassed throughout the entire game. By comparison, the Celtics were fully rested and motivated after losing to Atlanta on Monday.

As the Hawks continue to try and steer their season in the right direction, should the franchise look for Murray to take a Kobe-like approach?

Should Dejounte Murray continue to shot the ball like Kobe for the rest of the season?

Even though the guard should celebrate the 40+ point performance and the win, he shouldn't shoot like this for the rest of the season. The Hawks will be in an even worse spot if Murray continues this trend for the rest of the season.

To be fair, it was necessary in this game and it's not fair to him to say that he will do it again when the team gets Young and Johnson back. Still, it should be noted that the Hawks will have an even worse chance to get out of the Play-In tournament if Murray decides to shoot the ball like crazy against whoever they end up playing.

For now, it was a great performance and is one that was needed for the Hawks to have any chance of getting the No. 9 seed. With that in mind, Atlanta is certainly appreciating this Kobe-like performance.