3 Studs, 3 duds from Celtics ugly 117-116 loss to Hawks in NBA Cup

On Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics welcomed the Atlanta Hawks to town for the first game of their NBA Cup slate this season. But this wasn’t a typical Celtics game. It was ugly. Very ugly. Neither team could take care of the ball, the Celtics’ offense looked a bit funky for most of the night, and without Trae Young, the Hawks mucked things up in the paint.

Atlanta was able to keep the game close because of the amount of chaos they created, and the Celtics fell into the trap at times. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown caught a case of the turnover bug, and it made life hard for Boston. The Celtics scrapped with the Hawks, but it wasn't enough, as Atlanta pulled off the 117-116 upset.

Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ NBA Cup win over the Hawks on Tuesday night.

Stud - Jaylen Brown

When Brown returned from injury against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night, he looked a bit out of sorts. Like he couldn’t quite find his rhythm. But that all changed on Tuesday.

As the Celtics struggled to generate any sort of consistent offense, Brown was there. He drove the basket with decisiveness, nailed his shots inside the arc, and was a force with the ball in his hands.

Though his three-point attempts weren’t dropping, he was the most effective scorer on the Celtics on a night when they needed his offensive production. 

If Brown’s return game was his way of getting his feet wet again, it’s safe to say that he’s back to swimming in the deep end. (The free throws still need some work, though.)

Dud - Sloppiness

This was by far the ugliest game of the Celtics season, and it wasn’t even completely their fault. Both teams played sloppy, chaotic games.

The peak of said sloppiness was at the start of the third quarter when both teams traded turnovers, bad possessions, and missed passes. It was a terrible stretch of basketball from an aesthetic perspective.

The ugliness transcended that stretch in the third, though. It was an issue in the first, second, and fourth quarters, too. Neither team was under control, and both racked up huge turnover numbers.

Boston’s turnovers, in particular, were tough to watch, considering they are one the best teams in the league at taking care of the ball. And Tatum and Brown were the biggest culprits.

Stud - Derrick White

In the midst of the ugliness, there was Derrick White. He wasn’t immune to the turnover problems, but he came up big in the scoring column, just like Brown did.

White’s methodical scoring showed up, as he was money from inside the arc, but his three-point buckets were just as crucial, and he shot well from distance, too.

Again, he had a few rough turnovers, but as a scorer, he was on point. And when the Celtics needed a big bucket, he was right there to provide.

Dud - Jayson Tatum

This was a very weird game for Tatum. He wasn’t necessarily bad from a decision-making standpoint, but he was just a bit off in most areas of the game.

Tatum wasn’t super efficient, he had some rough turnovers, and it felt like he was a step slow for most of the evening. His head was in the right place most of the time, but it didn’t show up in the results on the court.

The Celtics star was making nice passes, and he didn’t take too many threes that felt like they messed up the flow of the offense, but something was just off. Perhaps he's still dealing with some leftover injury issues.

Stud - The Hawks’ effort

With Young sidelined, the Hawks changed up their game plan—they embraced chaos.

They were in every passing lane, fiending for every offensive rebound, and battling through contact to get to the rim. And it felt like they caught the Celtics off guard., with Dyson Daniels helping lead the charge.

Tatum and Brown had turnover problems, the Celtics got killed in the paint, and it felt like Atlanta out-ran them during every transition opportunity. The Hawks were scrapping without Young, and it worked.

Dud - Interior defense/Rebounding

The Hawks got whatever they wanted in the paint. They had free runs to the rim and easy looks around the rim all night long, and it felt like the Celtics were giving them zero resistance.

Whether it was Clint Capela dominating the offensive boards or Atlanta’s forwards driving to the rack with ease, they were hounding the Celtics on the interior. They didn’t shoot well from three, but it didn’t matter.

Atlanta was getting enough production inside the painted area to keep the game close, especially with how many turnovers the Celtics were committing.

It was a tough night for Boston’s interior defense, and their defensive rebounding left a lot to be desired, too.