Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks shoots the game-winning...

Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks shoots the game-winning shot as time expires against Spencer Dinwiddie #26 of the Brooklyn Nets during the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena on February 26, 2023 in Atlanta. Credit: Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox

ATLANTA — This one was a heartbreaker.

Trae Young ruined what could have been an impressive come-from-behind win for the Nets on Sunday when he pump-faked around Mikal Bridges and then landed the buzzer-beating game-winner despite Spencer Dinwiddie nearly knocking him off course with an attempted block from behind.

With the 129-127 loss, the Nets have lost four of their last five games and it’s not going to get any easier. The Nets host the Bucks, winners of 14 straight, Tuesday before playing the Knicks and Boston.

The Nets (34-26) are tied with the Knicks for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Eighth-place Atlanta won its second consecutive game under interim coach Joe Prunty. Just hours later the Hawks announced they hired Quin Snyder as their coach. Former coach Nate McMillan was fired Tuesday.

“Give him credit for the shot that he made with a contest from behind by Spencer, so good shot,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Give him credit.”

Young, who finished with 34 points, shrugged off the notion that he had done anything out of the ordinary in the final seconds of the game.

“I’ve been counting down those seconds since I was 5 years old, 6 years old,” Young said. “That’s nothing new.”

The Nets are 3-6 since Kyrie Irving’s trade demand that also resulted in Kevin Durant being dealt away from the team.

The current group of players is 1-4 together, though Sunday’s loss was a lot more encouraging than the 44-point embarrassment they suffered Friday against the Bulls.

“I think we solved some problems, or a little bit, we got a few answers tonight,” Vaughn said. “We’ll continue to get more answers as we go forward. I thought we were more physical and aggressive in our defensive stance, how we put our hands on people. We just were more aggressive at the end of the day and that allowed us to get more stops, get out in transition, and get some really good looks from the field, but it all started from our defensive stance.”

Cam Johnson led the Nets with 27 points. Bridges added 24, Cam Thomas had 22 and Dinwiddie finished with 20.

For awhile, it looked as if the Nets were headed for another big loss. The Nets’ defense looked lost as the Hawks made 60% of their shots in the first quarter and amassed an 18-point lead midway through the second.

Thomas then came off the bench to score 11 consecutive points to cut Atlanta’s lead to 59-50.

The Nets kept chipping away and held the lead several times. But with 1:17 left, Young hit two free throws to give the Hawks a 127-119 lead.

A Dinwiddie driving dunk followed by a Dorian Finney-Smith three-pointer brought the Nets within three.

After Young missed a three-pointer with 31 seconds left, Johnson hit a three-pointer to tie the score with 7.8 seconds remaining.

That’s when Young took the ball and began working his magic. Bridges accepted the blame for letting Young get past him.

“I’ve just got to stay disciplined,” Bridges said. “I jumped, left my feet. But I’ve got to stay disciplined.”

Dinwiddie, who peeled off Bogdan Bogdanovic to try to stop Young, thought he initially was going to get there in time.

“Obviously, he’s a super-talented dude and an All-Star and all that,” Dinwiddie said. “You’re not mad at the shot and Mikal played great defense. Trae Young is a hell of a player, but you would rather not be in that position.”

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