Dyson Daniels scores career-high 28 points, Jalen Johnson has triple-double as Hawks beat Celtics

BOSTON (AP) — Onyeka Okongwu tipped in a missed shot with 6.1 seconds left, and Jaylen Brown missed a jumper at the buzzer on Tuesday night as the Atlanta Hawks overcame a 15-point, second-half deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 117-116 in their NBA Cup opener.

Dyson Daniels scored a career-high 28 points, and Jalen Johnson had 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Atlanta snapped a two-game losing streak despite playing without star Trae Young.

Brown scored a season-high 37 points and Derrick White added 31 for Boston as it opened the in-season tournament on a green floor with a special parquet design. The defending NBA champions had a two-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the third time this season.

The Hawks played better with Young out of the lineup with tendinitis in his right Achilles than they did on Nov. 4, when he shot 1 for 10 from the field in Boston's 123-93 victory.

Tatum's 3-point attempt from the left corner with 24 seconds left and Boston leading 116-115 rimmed out. Daniels missed a floater, but Okongwu tipped it in to give the Hawks their first lead since the final seconds of the first quarter.

The teams traded turnovers on inbounds passes before White found Brown, who pulled up from 13 feet and shot off the rim.

Tatum now has 12,208 points, passing Hall of Famer Tommy Heinsohn (12,194) for 12th on the Celtics' career scoring list.

The Hawks host the Washington Wizards on Friday in another NBA Cup game. The Celtics visit the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.

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Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet battles for the ball against Atlanta Hawks' Onyeka Okongwu, left, and Jalen Johnson during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) tries to stop Atlanta Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (2) on a drive to the basket during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, center left, drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Garrison Mathews (24) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

The Boston Celtics practice on a alternate floor, replacing the historic parquet court as part of the Emirates NBA Cup, prior to an basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican's rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are “witch hunts.”

That kinship was rewarded Wednesday when Trump named Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, turning to a conservative loyalist in place of more established lawyers who'd been seen as contenders.

In announcing his selection of Gaetz as attorney general and John Ratcliffe a day earlier as CIA director, Trump underscored the premium he places on loyalty, citing both men's support for him during the Russia investigation as central to their qualifications and signaling his expectation that leaders in his administration should function not only as a president's protector but also as an instrument of retribution.

The dynamic matters at a time when Trump, who will enter office in the wake of two federal indictments expected to soon evaporate and a Supreme Court opinion blessing a president's exclusive authority over the Justice Department, has threatened to pursue retaliation against perceived adversaries.

“Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ,” Trump wrote in a social media post about Gaetz, a Florida Republican.

The rhetoric from Trump reflects an about-face in approach from President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly taken a hands-off approach from the Justice Department even while facing a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified information and as his son, Hunter, was indicted and convicted on tax and gun charges.

Democrats immediately sounded the alarm, with Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying Gaetz “would be a disaster” in part because of Trump's threat to use the Justice Department “to seek revenge on his political enemies.” The president of Common Cause, a good government group, called the selection “shocking" and “a serious threat to the fair and equal enforcement of the law in our nation.” Even several Senate Republicans expressed concern about the Gaetz pick.

That Trump would openly value Gaetz's role in “defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization” is not altogether surprising. In his first term, Trump fired an FBI director who refused to pledge loyalty to him at a private White House dinner and an attorney general who recused himself from the Justice Department's investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.

“I think this selection indicates that President-elect Trump was looking for an attorney general whose views were closely aligned with him with respect to the appropriate role of the Department of Justice,” said former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz.

Ratcliffe, who served as Trump's director of national intelligence in the final months of his first term, rose to prominence on Capitol Hill as a staunch defender of Trump. He was a member of Trump's advisory team during his first impeachment hearings in 2019 and pointedly grilled multiple witnesses about the Russia investigation — including an FBI agent who led the inquiry but also traded anti-Trump text messages with a colleague.

That work was credited by Trump in his selection announcement, as he praised Ratcliffe for “exposing fake Russian collusion” and having “been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public.”

Gaetz would be the first attorney general in decades without Justice Department experience, and in recent years became embroiled himself in a federal sex trafficking investigation that ended without criminal charges.

Hours before the announcement, Gaetz said in a social media post that there needs to be a “full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people.” He added: “And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!” If confirmed as attorney general, he would oversee both the FBI and the ATF.

Advancing the theme of vengeance, billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk weighed in on the Gaetz appointment with a post that said: “The Hammer of Justice is coming.”

Gaetz has used the seat in Congress he first won in 2016 to rail against the Justice Department, repeatedly decrying what he — and Trump — contends is a criminal justice system biased against conservatives. He has blasted law enforcement officials he has perceived as being either overtly anti-Trump or ineffective in protecting Trump's interests.

When Robert Mueller visited Capitol Hill to discuss the findings of the Russia investigation, Gaetz condemned the prosecutor for leading a team that the congressman said was “so biased.” The Trump Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to examine errors in the Russia investigation, but Gaetz scolded Durham too for failing to uncover enough damaging information about the FBI's inquiry into Trump.

“For the people like the (committee) chairman who put trust in you, I think you let them down. I think you let the country down. You are one of the barriers to the true accountability that we need,” Gaetz said.

He's directed outright fury at FBI Director Christopher Wray, snapping at him last year that FBI applicants in Florida “deserve better than you” and at the current attorney general, Merrick Garland. In 2022, Garland appointed special counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump's hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Both investigations ended in indictments expected to wind down before Trump takes office. Smith, too, is also likely to be gone by the time Gaetz arrives and a new FBI director is also expected to be appointed given Trump's lingering discontent with Wray, his own appointee.

“None of us can predict exactly what will happen there,” said Ryan Fayhee, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor.

He added: “I think it's just more of a question of the department continuing to be independent and largely resting on the broad shoulders of the career prosecutors and agents that have held themselves to the highest standards.”

FILE - Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe waits to board Marine One with President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

FILE - Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)