The Boston Celtics entered Tuesday night’s contest against the Atlanta Hawks looking to bounce back off a lackluster effort in Indiana. They came in with a clean injury report, but it would not stay this way.
As for the Hawks, they would continue to be without their star power forward in John Collins and veteran combo guard, Lou Williams. Atlanta has been on a recent surge winning 12 of their last 18 games.
The game opened up in a back and forth affair off two solid plays from Jaylen Brown. A mid-range jumper on the first possession and lob connecting to Rob Williams soon after.
It would mark less than three minutes into the opening frame before the injury struck.
Brown was down clutching his ankle in a clear state of discomfort and would head to the locker room where he would not return. Positives are he walked off the court under his own power and it generally looked like a mild ankle sprain.
This loss of the C’s second star would cut their sails out from under them. Part of the game plan seemed to have Brown matched up with his length on Trae Young.
Derrick White had this assignment now and initially, he looked overmatched.
The Hawks star guard got where he wanted in the first half, scoring 22 points by the break. Bogdan Bogdanovic would add 10 points off the pine for good measure. Two guards that have historically given Beantown fits.
The Celtics would find themselves in a deep hole by halftime down 68-51. A 17 point cushion for the Hawks and the C’s 10 first-half turnovers did not help matters.
When you turn the ball over it gives the defense no chance to set up, leading to easy transition points for the Hawks.
Also, Boston’s defense was nowhere to be found with late switches, weak closeouts, and early foul trouble.
To open the third quarter the shamrocks flipped the script, holding the Hawks scoreless for the first four minutes and change, forcing Trae to make tough shots and shutting down ATL’s hopes of a runaway win.
The C’s held Atlanta to just 29 second-half points which included only a 10 point third quarter. Boston would complete a 17 point comeback victory by winning 107-98.
Jayson Tatum had a complete performance on the night with 33 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists while Derrick White added 18 points and five assists for his best game as a Celtic.
Trae Young had 31 points but only nine in the second half as he was overwhelmed by a tenacious defensive effort from the likes of Smart and White.
This brings me to 3 takeaways from this come-from-behind win for the Boston Celtics the Hawks: