Jaylen Brown, Celtics overcome poor start to hold off Hawks, 109-106

With a brutal stretch of games to begin 2020 — which includes a game at least every two days until the All-Star break and three back-to-backs in the next two weeks — the Celtics couldn’t afford to get off on the wrong foot Friday.

Even without Kemba Walker — who was out with the flu — the C’s had no business losing to the Atlanta Hawks, who arrived to TD Garden 17½ games back of them and dead last in the standings.

They weren’t at all convincing, but the Celtics found enough to turn the calendar in the win column. Jaylen Brown returned to score 24 points and pull down 10 rebounds, Gordon Hayward added 18 points and Enes Kanter provided 14 and 11 off the bench as the Celtics rebounded from an ugly first quarter and held off Trae Young and the pesky Hawks with a 109-106 victory.

Young returned from a two-game absence to score 28 points, including five of the Hawks’ 16 3-pointers as they hung around far longer than they should have.

The C’s (24-8) seemed to be in control after a Brown triple put them up seven with five minutes left, but led by Young, the Hawks (7-28) stormed back and made it a one-point game with less than a minute to go after Brown missed a pair of free throws. But Marcus Smart’s pull-up 3 with 41 seconds remaining gave the hosts a cushion they desperately needed.

Down two in the final seconds, Young pulled up for a potentially game-winning 3, but Daniel Theis blocked him and the Celtics corralled the ball to avoid what would have easily been their worst loss of the season.

The Celtics were putrid to begin the first quarter, possibly their worst quarter of the season after making just three of their first 17 shots, which included six misses at the rim. Without Walker, the trio of Brown, Jayson Tatum and Hayward combined to go 1-for-11 to begin the game as the Hawks built a big lead.

Tatum started 0-for-6 from the field, which included several easy looks at the rim, as the C’s continued to throw bricks at the basket. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kevin Huerter and Allen Crabbe gave the Hawks a 29-11 lead before Enes Kanter’s and-one with 54.5 seconds left in the period ended the Celtics’ field-goal drought at over four minutes.

That seemed to spark the C’s some. Brandon Goodwin responded with a 3 to restore the Hawks’ lead to 18, but Smart replied by banking in a 3 and Brown stole a pass to break away for an easy jam to end the quarter on a high note.

The Celtics carried that momentum into the second quarter, as they scored 12 consecutive points to get within six. Young kept them at bay with a pair of 3-pointers, including one from beyond distance, and he also tossed in an acrobatic three-point play, but the C’s continued to chip away. They got within one several times but couldn’t get over the hump before the break. Tatum finished off his abysmal 1-for-9 first half with another missed layup in the closing moments as the Celts trailed by two at halftime.

It wasn’t long before the Celtics took the lead. Brown grabbed another steal to give the C’s a 59-57 lead two minutes into the third quarter, their first lead since 6-4.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SXw22C