Jamal Crawford (the man I said the Celtics had to stop in order to win) scored 14 of his 18 points in the 4th quarter to lead the Hawks past the Celtics, 93-85.
The key sequence of the game came with about 1:15 left and the Celtics trailing by six, 88-82. The Cs got a steal, but Paul Pierce (21 pts, 6 steals) gambled and threw a long pass which was stolen by Al Horford. Jamal Crawford promptly nailed a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to extend the lead to 9.
The Cs laid a giant egg in the 3rd quarter. A lack of energy on the defensive end, combined with too many jump shots on offense resulted in a 29-15 quarter in Atlanta’s favor.
There were some crazy momentum swings midway thru the 4th quarter. The Celtics cut the lead to 7 with 7 minutes left in the 4th, but Jamal Crawford came back with a 4-point play. He hit a ridiculous three falling out-of-bounds and drew a cheap foul on Kendrick Perkins (15 points, 14 rebounds). The Celtics then rattled off 9 straight (Perk 3-point play, Ray 2 FTs, Pierce jumper, Pierce steal and lay-up) to get within 2 (78-76).
Give Atlanta credit, Mike Bibby, Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford and Al Horford made some key buckets late in the game.
Celtics 3-point shooting: 7-12 in first half | 2-12 in 2nd half
Rasheed Wallace had a lousy game: 11 points, 5-15 FG, 1-8 3FG, 3 rebounds
Josh Smith had a spectacular blocked shot on Perk in the 3rd quarter. Kendrick went up for the dunk, but Smith was there for the stuff.
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