Struggling Celtics fall to Atlanta, 122-114

With Kemba Walker out due to load management, Javonte Green was the new starter du jour, and Aaron Nesmith continued to respond well to the call of opportunity.

But as it turned out, the Celtics needed more than the promise of youth. They needed some sign that, with Walker and the injured Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis on the side, they could string together some consistency. They’re still waiting for that, as it turns out.

A poor finishing night by Jaylen Brown (22 points, 6-for-19), combined with another substandard defensive effort that found the Hawks shooting at a 60% clip for most of the night, was simply too much for the Celtics to overcome in their 122-114 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

The Hawks had it their way all night in the paint, outscoring the Celtics in that area, 60-46.

Though Jayson Tatum finished with 35 points on 11-for-22 shooting, the Celtics played from behind most of the night and fell back to .500 (14-14) on the season.

Atlanta opened some space midway through the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run, and although the Celtics dug in, Trae Young’s fourth 3-pointer of the night was good for a 108-95 lead, the Hawks’ biggest to that point.

Semi Ojeleye hit a corner 3-pointer, Young buried a rainbow from the free-throw line, and Brown scored to cut the Atlanta lead to 110-100.

Tristan Thompson hit two free throws after rebounding a Tatum miss with 3 minutes left, and the next time down Tatum slashed to cut the Atlanta edge to 110-104. Young took it right back with a drive, and scored again off a goaltend for a 114-104 lead.

Young, who scored 40 points, buried another dagger for a 116-106 lead, Tatum was fouled off a drive, hitting twice. But Young, fouled by Green, gave the Hawks a 10-point edge again with 54.8 seconds left with two free throws.

Three-pointers from Cam Reddish and Danilo Gallinari late in the third allowed Atlanta to open up a 90-81 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. Brown, 3-for-16 with 13 points over the first three quarters, was in a rare struggle to make shots, and Tatum had just put up a relatively quiet (six-point) third.

Back-to-back hoops from Payton Pritchard cut the Atlanta lead to 92-86 early in the fourth, and Tatum followed with an impossibly deep and tightly guarded 3-pointer that cut the Hawks edge to three points.

Clint Capela answered by tipping in his own miss over Robert Williams, but Grant Williams cut the margin to three again (94-91) from the baseline.

Two Tatum turnovers, both off out-of-control dribbles, followed by a Jeff Teague travel, came in the midst of the Hawks’ next move — an 11-2 run for a 102-93 lead with 6:33 left following a Young 3-pointer and Capela layup.

Teague threw the ball away again, with Capela extending the lead to 103-93 with a free throw, before Brown scored. But Tatum’s scoop missed the next time down, and by now the Hawks were living at the line. Though he was missing as many as he made, this time Capela hit twice from the line with 5:10 left for a 10-point (105-95) Hawks lead.

A late flurry by Young and John Collins, who finished the first half with a respective 15 and 12 points, staked the Hawks to a 62-56 halftime lead. The Hawks shot an even 60% (24-for-40) for their lead, and in a sense the Celtics could feel fortunate that the hole wasn’t deeper.

Tatum was off to his most efficient start in a while, with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting, but the Celtics simply couldn’t keep the Hawks out of the paint, where Atlanta scored 40 points over the first 24 minutes.

Young opened the third quarter with an up-top trey, and the hole grew a little deeper. Brown eventually broke the ice on a cold night, hitting a 3-pointer for only his second basket, cutting the Atlanta lead to 70-65.

Brown’s aggression opened a door, though, and with 5:46 left in the third Tatum hit two free throws that cut the Hawks edge to 76-73.

But Tatum lost the ball in the post the next time down, triggering a Hawks fast break, and as evidenced by a looping three-point play by Gallinari for an eight-point lead, even pulling close was becoming a chore for the Celtics.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3bk2Quk