It’s officially a series.
The Atlanta Hawks took down the Boston Celtics 119-117 thanks to Trae Young’s heroic 4th quarter and a collective team boost in Dejounte Murray’s absence. It looked like the Celtics put enough distance between themselves and the Hawks early in the 4th, but Atlanta went on an 8-0 run to tie the game late, and Young hit the stepback dagger three with 1.8 seconds left.
The Celtics had multiple chances to ice the Hawks before Ice Trae stepped up. Though Atlanta started at a blistering pace, Jaylen Brown consistently answered, finishing the first half with 23 points. Once Jayson Tatum and Derrick White started to get going, the Celtics got up as much as 13 in the 4th, but the offense went stagnant, and the Hawks finally got the stops they desperately needed all game. Tatum had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, taking a contested three that fell well short.
Following the game, Joe Mazzulla wasn’t too disheartened with the late loss, but acknowledged some areas where the team had to be better. “If you don’t win and you don’t execute, you lost your poise. I don’t know if we were trying to do too much, but I just didn’t think we were poised.”
He also said he thought the offensive attack, which was strong for most of the night, lost a step as the Celtics lost the lead. “We lost our pace a little bit on the offensive end,” he said, “which allowed them to pressure us and get into the passing lanes.”
All credit ultimately goes to the Hawks, who didn’t roll over and die despite being without their most consistent playoff performer due to suspension. Led by Trae Young, who finished with 38 points and 13 assists, the team shot above 46% both overall and from three. Five Hawks finished in double figures, perfectly filling the void that Murray left. Though the defense, as always, was poor and they posted their lowest offensive rebound total (6) of the series, they hung around long enough and caught the Celtics flat footed late in the game.
On the Boston side, they were comfortable trading baskets all night and played a relatively clean game until late in the fourth. When it came down to it, they couldn’t deliver the kill shot, and their lack of intensity caught up to them.
In the loss, Jaylen Brown was fantastic, finishing with 35 points on 65.2% from the field. Tatum and White, as mentioned before, had strong second halves, and Malcolm Brogdon, who was honored tonight as the Sixth Man of the Year winner, added 14 points as well.
It’s an outcome few predicted, but it’s the current reality. The Celtics will be traveling back to Atlanta, taking on this same team with Dejounte Murray on Thursday night. They’ve played from ahead for most of the series, now they’ll need to step up and finish the job.
“We have another opportunity on Thursday so I think it’s a matter of having perspective on the situation,” said Mazzulla. “We had an opportunity and now we have another so we just have to focus on that.”
