Dejounte Murray's explosion against the Celtics seems like tribute to bygone era

44 points on 44 shots in 47 minutes and a shade under 41% shooting from the field.

That’s the line Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray posted Thursday in a 123-122 overtime win at home against the Boston Celtics. He even closed out the C’s by hitting the winning shot. It was a shooting performance reminiscent of the bygone era of the 1990s.

The most important part of this equation for the 10th-place Hawks was they won to stay within a game of the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference.

What obviously stands out most, though, are the 44 attempts taken by Murray. He even acknowledged this in the post-game interview, mentioning how Kobe Bryant would be proud of him. 

“We came out and we competed… And I still feel like I played awful. I don't want to take that many shots, but I know Kobe would be proud of me," Murray told the media (h/t: si.com).

Per StatMuse, only 10 times since 1979 has a player taken at least 44 shots in a game. Bryant owns four of them. That includes a high of 50 attempts (scored 60) in his career finale against the Utah Jazz. 

Of those 10 games in which least 44 shots were launched by one player, only two have come after 2008. (Per StatMuse, the NBA record for shots in a game is 63, set in 1962 by Wilt Chamberlain.) 

One player hoisting up that many shots is unheard of in this analytical era. Not only did Murray average a point per shot attempt, but he also nearly managed to put up one shot per minute of playing time. 

In the 1990s and 2000s, it seems like we saw these performances nightly.

With players such as Bryant, Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony earning reputations as shot-jackers, it is no wonder that era is viewed the way it is. Iverson’s career high in attempts was 42 while Anthony’s was 36.

Anyone who longs for that brand of hoops likely slept well after watching Murray’s tribute to the era.

Unless, of course, you’re a Celtics fan. In that case, you're probably still cursing Jayson Tatum for missing the potential game-winner in regulation.