Atlanta’s Game 3 display against Boston Celtics was bound to happen

As has happened in previous playoff series between these two, the Atlanta Hawks put on an outrageous offensive performance to cut the Boston Celtics lead to one game.

For a team that finished top-three in most points scored per game during the regular season, it was only a matter of time before the offense hit its stride. Trae Young and the Hawks have all the weapons on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the backcourt to break down even the game’s best defenses every now and then.

Game 3 was all about Atlanta’s shot-making ability combined with an uncharacteristic defensive display by the Boston Celtics. Even though the first two games of the series were relatively runaway victories for Joe Mazzulla’s men does not mean it is going to continue for four straight games. The NBA world, especially the Celtics’ community did not give Quin Snyder and his team enough credit for what they can do on the offensive end.

Similar to last season in the first round against the Miami Heat, the Hawks were able to shrug off back-to-back tough shooting nights to edge the higher seed in the first contest back on their home floor. You could just feel it in the lead-up to Game 3 that the Hawks were not going to score fewer than 110 points after averaging over 118 per game through the 82-game regular season. Snyder’s team averaged a field goal percentage of 48.3% per game from October to the beginning of April.

In Games 1 and 2, Atlanta shot under 43% from the field in 96 minutes on the parquet floor. Young and Dejounte Murray are elite competitors, and with the crowd behind them, the Hawks had everything they needed to shock Boston as the series shifted to Georgia. Given the 6-15 record in the Peach State in the postseason for the Boston Celtics since 1972, and experience this year’s Hawks possess, Game 3 had an Atlanta win written all over it.

Boston has done an incredible job rebounding after losses this season, and with the way its defense performed throughout Game 3, there is no doubt this Celtics’ team will come out with an edge to them on Sunday. Boston had just two players collect five or more rebounds on Friday night at State Farm Arena compared to the Hawks’ six.

It was only a matter of time before Hawks finished off the extra offensive possessions they created in Games 1 and 2 vs Boston Celtics

Snyder’s squad had 16 more offensive rebounds than the Cs through the first two games and never seemed to find a way to capitalize on that. The Hawks’ persistence to accumulate extra possessions throughout the course of a game paid dividends in Game 3. Boston had its fourth-worst performance on the glass in the franchise’s storied postseason history on Friday. 29 rebounds was the lowest playoff rebounding total since 2010 in a road loss to Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

In Game 4, the Hawks are going to encounter a whole new Boston team that is going to match the intensity the kind of energy Atlanta brought to bring the series to a one-game deficit. The C’s defense got progressively better as the game moved into the second half, but there needs to be defensive discipline that is brought for all 48 minutes instead of in just spurts. Game 3 did not show why Boston finished in the top three in defensive rating.

Back in the confines of their home arena, the Hawks were destined to piece together a display as they did in Game 3 at least once this series. Teams with good offenses find ways to win playoff games. Mazzulla’s team must regroup and refocus on what was working for them in the first two games of this best-of-seven series.