It was a game for a half, but the Celtics fell apart in the third quarter and never got it back. They were missing Jayson Tatum, Neemias Queta, and Nikola Vucevic, and Jaylen Brown played one of his worst games of the season, which all added up to a 112-102 loss.
Game Flow
Luka Garza carried the offense early, scoring eight quick points, but the Celtics turned the ball over seven times to give Atlanta chance after chance. Payton Pritchard added eight of his own points to help Boston hold a slim one-point lead after the first quarter.
The Hawks opened the second quarter on a run but the Celtics were able to hang around and retake the lead, partly because Charles Bassey checked in with an amazing stretch of two blocked shots and a putback. The Celtics kept crashing the boards, building an 11-3 first half advantage in second chance points, which negated an 11-2 points off turnovers advantage for Atlanta. Fittingly, the game was tied at halftime.
The Hawks kept up the pace to build another five-point lead early on. Jaylen Brown got to the line, and the C’s got a little more from Pritchard, but the Hawks still pushed their lead to double-digits. Brown really struggled aside from the fouls he drew, and the C’s offense started to sputter. Atlanta, meanwhile got 11 from Onyeka Oknongwu, seven from Dyson Daniels, and they won the quarter 36-22 to take a 14-point lead.
The Celtics didn’t really show much fight coming out for the fourth and the Hawks lead ballooned to 21. The Celtics whipped off a 9-0 run to get to 12 with 4:35 left. Brown finally made a couple of threes to get it to eight to make the game interesting down the stretch, but they didn’t have enough to come all the way back.
Four Reasons They Lost
Jaylen Brown didn’t have it
It felt like he was playing too fast at the beginning of the game and he never really adjusted much to the defense the Hawks threw at him. He still managed nine assists, but I didn’t think he used his gravity well early to open the game up for himself.
It felt like he came out with a singular focus to score early and he wasn’t reading the game as well as usual.
The Hawks forced a lot of turnovers
It got better later in the game, but the Celtics turned it over 15 times for 14 Hawks points. Ten of those came in the first half, as did 11 of the points Atlanta scored, which meant the Celtics squandered a chance to take a lead into the half instead of being tied.
The Hawks rode that momentum into a strong third quarter that changed the game.
They didn’t get enough from important players
Derrick White never really seemed to get into any kind of flow and it showed in a seven-point, 3-12 shooting night. Baylor Scheierman only chipped in three points. Payton Pritchard had a few nice moments but the Celtics needed more than 16 points from him. Sam Hauser, who nearly broke the Celtics three-point record the last time they played in Atlanta, only had seven points in this one.
The Hawks got a lot from everyone
Onyeka Okongwu scoring 20 and hitting four three-pointers hurt. Dyson Daniels, who is literally having the worst three-point shooting season in NBA history (for players taking 100 or more), going 2-3 from three hurt. Jonathan Kuminga, who was terrible last week in Boston, was great defensively and he chipped in 10 points.
Six Hawks scored in double-figures and they all played great defense.
Player Grades
Luka Garza: A (20 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block)
He carried the scoring early on and was the only consistent guy in the lineup. He only missed on shot, a three-pointer, on his way to his second 20-point night of the season.
Amari Williams: B (4 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal)
He had a couple of tough defensive lapses, and there were moments where he looked unsure, which isn’t unusual for him. But he had one great stretch where he got a block on one end and a putback on the other. He only played 13 minutes, but he was mostly solid.
Charles Bassey: B (3 points 2 rebounds, 2 blocks)
If someone had bashed me on the head cartoon-style after summer league and I just woke up in time for the tip of this game, I would have pointed to the TV and said “See! I told you he’d fit!” Most of his production came in one short stretch, but it was a very helpful stretch. He gets a grade boost for doing it with limited time to learn anything.
Payton Pritchard: B (16 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists)
He was 4-6 from three, and he hit some tough shots on his way to the 16 points. But he was also a team-worst -19 in the game. Most of that was his time in the third quarter, where he was only 1-4 for three points in seven minutes.
Jaylen Brown: C (29 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists)
He himself called it one of his worst games of the season. I didn’t think he looked limited physically. I think he just didn’t read the game well enough to get off the ball early and then work to get it back. He had to shed Hawks defenders instead of go at them the way he did.
Jordan Walsh: C (8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block)
He made a fair amount of hustle and defensive plays, but he also made a fair amount of bad decisions and mistakes. He had one pull-up jumper in transition that was pretty mind-boggling.
Baylor Scheierman: C- (3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal)
He was back in the starting lineup but didn’t have his usual impact. He took a wild three-pointer in traffic, fading out of bounds, in the corner in front of the Celtics bench. That landed him a spot on said bench until the middle of the third.
Sam Hauser: C- (7 points 3 rebounds)
Nothing notable.
Derrick White: C- (7 points 5 rebounds, 4 assists)
He only shot 3-12 and didn’t look comfortable at all. At his best, you can feel White’s impact on the game. He looked like he was hunting his shots. I think a big part of it could have been helped by better ball movement.
Hugo Gonzalez: D (5 points, 4 rebounds)
I think he and Jordan Walsh will swap places in the playoffs. I don’t think he’ll get much run in the postseason. He did hit a couple of shots and grab a couple of offensive rebounds, but he’s making some bad mistakes and worse decisions.