The Celtics weren’t too far out of the game, but it never felt like they had a chance to win this one as they took a loss on their home floor to the Atlanta Hawks by a score of 105-91. The Hawks are running like a well-oiled machine at the moment, and even while sitting Kyle Korver and Al Horford, they were able to easily handle the Celtics and improve to 31-8. Jeff Teague and DeMarre Carroll each had 22 points, while Paul Millsap got his double-double with 18 and 10.
For the Celtics, there weren’t any standout individual performances. Phil Pressey had 7 points and 2 assists in 11 minutes, but that came when the game was all but decided. Kelly Olynyk’s 12 points and 8 rebounds doesn’t look bad in the box score, but he often looked lost on both ends of the floor tonight.
The Cs started off the game with little energy, prompting Brad Stevens to call a timeout just a few minutes in. They recovered the rest of the quarter and would head into the second with the game tied. Evan Turner showed off some fancy passing in the first with five assists, but only added one more the rest of the way.
The Celtics defense was exposed in the second and third quarters in every way possible. The Hawks created turnovers that resulted into points when Boston failed to hustle back, and they broke Boston down in the half court by spreading the floor and attacking the basket. The Celtics made a mini run at the beginning of the 4th, but the Hawks were able to regain their double digit lead and close the game out.
The Hawks seemed to get their hands on a number of Celtics passes throughout the night, creating 16 turnovers and coming up with 13 steals. Unlike most teams, the Hawks disrupt the opposing team’s offense by not allowing simple ball reversals. Even the big guys get their hands in passing lanes, as Millsap is one of the league leaders in steals and Pero Antic came up with four tonight.
The Green:
There wasn’t a whole lot of it, but I thought Marcus Thornton gave the Celtics some life tonight. The team seemed to regain their footing when he came in in the first, and he was the only Celtic to have a positive plus/minus (+11). The guy has done a nice job knocking down shots for the Celtics, which means trader Danny will probably trade him in the near future. He’s an expiring, so it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the Celtics couldn’t find a reasonable match for his somewhat high contract, but if Ainge can find value on the market, Thornton will be gone.
The Gross:
Let’s talk about Tyler Zeller’s last few games. He’s averaging 4.3 points on 23% shooting over his last four. There was a point in the season where Zeller’s field goal percentage was so high Celtics fans would be mildly shocked when he missed a shot, but without Rajon Rondo to find him easy baskets, Zeller is beginning to struggle. The Celtics have not done a good job finding him on the move the way Rondo did, where Zeller can execute a crafty finish or get to the foul line. Instead, more of his shots are coming in one on one post up opportunities, which is not a strong area of his game at this point.
The rookies both struggled tonight, as Marcus Smart and James Young both went 2 of 7 from the floor. Those of us who would like to see Smart drive more were encouraged by his drive and dish in the 1st half, but he once again took most of his shots from deep, going 2 for 6. Smart is still recovering from the ankle sprain, an injury, as most basketball players can attest to, that doesn’t completely heal for a long time. I expect Smart to start incorporating more drives into his game as the ankle gets better and as he becomes more comfortable attacking off the pick and roll. As for Young, I don’t think we’ll see many nights where he shoots 1 for 6 from deep.
The Grid:
- The Celtics managed only 5 fastbreak points compared to the Hawks 19
- Boston was nearly doubled up at the free throw line yet again, with the Hawks shooting 23/27 and Boston going 12/14
- The Hawks shot 13 free throws in the third quarter alone, nearly matching the Celtics total for the entire game
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