The Celtics’ opening playoff game was like night and day, from the first half to the second half, as Boston came back from 17 points down at halftime to nearly pull off another of their patented miracles. But in the end, Atlanta hung on for a 102-101 victory that we’ll hope the Cs don’t come to regret.
The Celtics played the final 6:41 without Avery Bradley, who suffered a strained right hamstring and needed to be helped off the court. The Cs had just taken their first lead of the game, and the injury stopped their momentum. It also cost them during a last-minute sequence when Evan Turner, rather than Bradley, shot from the arc with Boston down three – and he missed. Turner shot 24% from deep this season, Bradley 36%.
Isaiah Thomas led with 27 points and eight assists, while Bradley added 18. Al Horford scored 24 points with 12 rebounds for Atlanta, while Kent Bazemore and Jeff Teague had 23 each. Teague added 12 assists.
The Celtics got off to a slow start by settling for – and missing – jumpers on almost every possession, while Atlanta got to the rim repeatedly. In one sequence, Jae Crowder missed an early shot-clock three without seeking any ball movement. Atlanta rebounded, moved the ball side to side and inside out, leading to a wide-open Paul Millsap triple, which he drained. The Cs were just 7-26 shooting, including a horrible 1-9 from the arc. Meanwhile, the Hawks were 11-24 (2-4 on threes) and closed the quarter with a 7-2 run to lead, 30-19, at the buzzer.
In the second, the Celts improved their shot selection but simply couldn’t hit anything. Boston penetrated more but was only 2-13 in the paint for the quarter as the Hawks swarmed everyone in green. At halftime, the Celts were shooting an almost unbelievable 12-52 (23.1%) and were just 2-16 from deep. They also had zero (0) fast break points. The Hawks’ lead peaked at 19 and they led, 51-34, at intermission.
Evan Turner replaced Amir Johnson to start the third quarter, and was effective (eight points in the period). But a new problem popped up – fouling. The Cs committed their fifth team foul with 10:05 (!) remaining. Atlanta would go on to shoot 8-12 from the line for the quarter.
However, the offense picked up, ripping off an 11-3 burst built on IT’s three and two fast break assists. For the next three minutes the teams traded hoops until Thomas swished a transition three to cut the lead to six. A Bradley triple got it as low as five, until Mike Scott hit a corner three and Millsap drove for an and-one to push Atlanta’s lead back to 11. The Celts closed with a 7-3 burst and heading to fourth trailed by just 72-65. The Cs shot 13-25 for the quarter.
The fourth quarter was peak intensity by both teams. Then Smart led a 9-0 run – he made a big three and moments later was shoved down by Kyle Korver while Bradley hit a jumper. Smart sank the FT to cut the lead to three. On the next possession Smart made another three to tie, then fed Crowder for a corner triple and Boston had its first lead of the game at 83-80.
Bradley went down at that point, but Boston hung tough. The score was tied at 88 when the Hawks converted two straight fast break hoops off Boston turnovers. IT answered with two from the line, 92-90, Hawks. Teague beat Crowder down the lane for two, but IT again drew a foul. This time he made one, missed one. Horford missed a jumper but crashed the boards for a rebound, drew the foul, and made both shots. It was 96-91, Atlanta, with 1:33 to play.
The Celtics went without a field goal from 5:53 remaining until 1:02, when Smart stole a pass from Teague, then scored a putback after Turner’s missed fastbreak layup. After a timeout, IT swung the ball to Turner for the three that missed. Smart intentionally, but unnecessarily, fouled Kent Bazemore with 36 seconds left, and he made both. Thomas made a layup and Teague made one of two from the line. After Crowder hit a second-chance three, Teague was fouled and made both, giving Atlanta a four-point lead. IT made a desperation three with 0.4 seconds left, but the Cs ran out of time.
The Green:
Although Amir was held out when the Celts went small to start the second half, he did re-enter and block two shots in the third quarter to help get Boston back in the game.
After a disastrous first half shooting, Boston won the second half by 16 while shooting 25-50 from the field and 9-19 from the arc.
Smart dropped in 15 points (11 in the fourth quarter), made 5-10 shots, was 3-6 on threes, had two steals, and – except for his unwise late foul – played one of his best games of the season. He out-battled Horford to steal the inbounds pass on Atlanta’s final possession, and nearly threw in a 70-foot one-handed miracle shot. It wouldn’t have counted, but it was an incredible effort. Smart will need to stay solid if Bradley misses games.
The Gross:
In the second quarter, Mike Scott elbowed Smart in the throat and was hit with a flagrant one foul. But the Cs couldn’t cash in as Smart missed one of his two FTs and the refs bought a flop by Atlanta, calling Kelly Olynyk for an offensive foul.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so RJ Hunter made an appearance in the second quarter (it didn’t help, as he never took a shot).
Brad was hit with a technical during a third-quarter timeout (at least the free throw was missed). Personal fouls at the time: Cs 20, Hawks 11.
The Greenlights:
A rare first-half hoop
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Run!
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Back-to-back triples
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The Grid:
- Free throws: Celtics 16/19; Hawks 27/35
- Points in the Paint: Celtics 36 (18/39), Hawks 52 (26/43)
- 2nd Chance Points: Celtics 22 (9/18), Hawks 15 (6/13)
- Fast Break Points: Celtics 15 (7/13), Hawks 15 (6/8)
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