Jrue Holiday’s right ankle sprain kept him out of the contest for the second consecutive game; Dalano Banton started in his place.Al Horford, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown were the hosts’ first five outs as he came in. Due to a left calf injury, which Joe Mazzulla stated prior to the game he will get checked on again in a week, the latter began in place of Kristaps Porzingis and will therefore miss at least Boston’s next three games.
.. The Celtics played fast; in the opening quarter, they moved the ball well, those without the rock were active and cutting all the time, and they executed a nice game of inside-out basketball to get strong, in-rhythm jumpers.
Boston took a 33-26 lead into the second quarter because to energetic plays like the one shown below, in which White swatted Trae Young’s effort, setting up an alley-oop for Tatum to Brown at the opposite end.
This resulted in them making 50% of their field goals, scoring 14 points during the arduous effort, and dishing out assistance on nine out of twelve made shots.
Boston took a 33-26 lead into the second quarter because to energetic plays like the one shown below, in which White swatted Trae Young’s effort, setting up an alley-oop for Tatum to Brown at the opposite end.
At the beginning of the next quarter, Joe Mazzulla called Neemias Queta’s number to help oversee the center rotation in Porzingis’ absence. Similar to his opening minutes last year, he played in a double-big lineup with Horford.
During a 7:09 shift, the 24-year-old Portuguese player pulled down six rebounds, five of which came from the offensive glass. In addition, he extended a possession by tipping Sam Hauser’s lost ball. He also received five points.
The majority of the latter came during a play in which he battled for position, rebounded Tatum’s missed three, and then made up for his own miss by making contact. Queta then finished the old-fashioned three-point play by tacking on the free throw.
.. In the first half, the Celtics played a superb job of staying within the winning margin, turning seven Atlanta mistakes into 14 points and converting 13 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points. This gave the home team a 69-53 lead at the break.
The only player for the Hawks to score in double figures was Trae Young, who led the team with 20 points at the half and also grabbed a technical.
Tatum led the entire field in the first 24 minutes with 21 points. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 13 for Boston. Including the latter, which posterized Clint Capela.
The C’s long-standing issue of underperforming in the third quarter did not affect Sunday’s game.
In addition to scoring just 21 points, they shot a dismal 36.8 percent from the field, including just 2/10 from beyond the arc, and their four turnovers gave Atlanta 10 points.
With ten points from De’Andre Hunter during a 10-0 run by the visitors and Bogdan Bogdanovic heating up, they were able to cut a 16-point deficit in half going into the final 12 minutes, trailing 90-82. Bogdanovic drilled four of five attempts during this run.
Not only did the hosts play poorly in the fourth quarter, but they also committed four turnovers before the five minutes had passed. Even so, they only scored 23 points in the quarter and managed to restrict the Hawks, who missed many easy baskets, including one by Young, to just 21, winning 113-103.
.. The Celtics’ next game is scheduled for Tuesday night at TD Garden, where they will host the Chicago Bulls in an in-season tournament matchup that tips off at 7:30 EST.
Leave a Reply