Celtics dismantle Hawks 123-93 as Tatum’s MVP start continues
On Monday night in Atlanta The defending champion Boston Celtics (6-1) take on the Atlanta Hawks (3-4). Boston is coming off back to back wins in Charlotte after a tough overtime loss to the Pacers last Wednesday. While the Hawks are coming off a win yesterday over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Celtics will be without one of their superstars as Jaylen Brown is dealing with a left hip flexor strain.
While the Hawks will be without De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Cody Zeller. This will be a tough matchup for an Atlanta squad that is still figuring out their identity. Boston will get it’s first look at the #1 overall pick in this past NBA draft Zaccharie Risacher. Risacher is still adjusting to the NBA game averaging 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1 assist per game early on in his NBA career. Boston would start Neemias Queta for the first time in his NBA career after he impressed over the last week filling in for Horford and making the most of his minutes. Can the defending champion Celtics keep their hot start to the season going or will Atlanta’s young roster take advantage of Jaylen Brown’s absence?
First Quarter:
Atlanta loves to play with pace led by their star Trae Young and this was evident right away on Monday night. The Hawks would get to the line to start the game scoring the games first point but Jayson Tatum would come up with a steal and a dunk to immediately answer for Boston. Both sides would continue to trade shots in a back and forth first quarter that was sloppy early on.
The Celtics would get an early 15-13 lead with just under 8 minutes to go in the first. After a Queta jumper showcased exactly why he’d earned his way into the starting lineup. Tatum would hit a 3 pointer on Boston’s next possession forcing Atlanta to call their first timeout of the night trailing 18-13 with 6:52 left in the first.
Second Quarter:
Atlanta would come out flying to start the second quarter going on an immediate 11-3 run. Forcing Joe Mazzulla to call his first timeout of the night with 9:37 left in the half and Boston trailing 41-38. Payton Pritchard’s 6th man of the year candidacy was also in full effect in Atlanta on Monday night. Pritchard racked up 11 quick points off the bench including going 3/6 from beyond the arc in the early going. Celtics would immediately answer the Hawks run with a 10-0 run of their own going up 51-44 with 7 minutes left in the half.
The first half continued to be a half of runs, but Boston’s talent was proving too much for a young Atlanta roster. Tatum was up to 19 points on 7/9 shooting with 5 minutes left in the half and Boston leading 58-49. The Celtics would get their first double digit lead of the night after a Derrick White bucket would make it 60-49. Things would go from bad to worse for Atlanta with Tatum’s torrid half continuing hitting a 3 pointer to get his total up to 22 and Boston’s lead up to 14.
The Hawks had no answer for Tatum as Boston would go on a 25-5 run fueled by Tatum dominating offensively. Tatum was now up to 25 points in only 16 minutes and Boston had it’s largest lead 67-49 with just under 3 minutes to play in the half. Atlanta’s hopes of keeping the defending champs within striking distance all but vanished in the second quarter outscoring the Hawks 40-23 in the second quarter. Boston would head to halftime leading 75-53 shooting 55% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc.
Third Quarter:
The third would start slow with both sides struggling to score going 0-4 to open the quarter. The first timeout would come with 6:57 left in the third and Boston leading 86-60, outscoring the Hawks 11-7 through the first 5 minutes of the quarter. Tatum was up to 26-5-6 and everything was looking easy for him on the offensive end. Boston would go on a 13-2 run and take their first 30 point lead of the night midway through the third 90-60.
Atlanta would go on a 13-6 run to cut Boston’s lead down to 98-70 with just over a minute left in the third. However it just didn’t matter for the Hawks when Boston is playing at their standard there are few teams if any that can hang with them on a nightly basis. The Celtics scored 100 points before the third quarter finished and was well on their way to 7-1. The third would end with Boston leading 103-75 and the only question now was how much longer Joe Mazzulla would play his starters.
Fourth Quarter:
Boston would empty it’s bench in the 4th quarter as expected. Even with Boston’s bench in the game they still started out the final quarter outscoring Atlanta 15-6 taking their lead up to 118-81 with 5:52 to go. Boston in the last 2 years now had more 30 points leads (20) than 10 points deficits (17) a stat from our very own Sean Grande. Just another dominant all around performance from the defending champs showing why they’re the heavy favorites to repeat again.
Boston was doing all this while missing Jaylen Brown and without Kristaps Porzingis who we probably won’t be seeing until late December or January. The Celtics would win by a final margin of 123-93 leading into their big matchup against Steve Kerr and the Warriors on Wednesday night at the Garden. Normally a Celtics-Warriors game wouldn’t need any more publicity around it but with Jayson Tatum’s benching at the Olympics all eyes will be on Steve Kerr’s pregame press conference on Wednesday. How will Tatum and Jaylen Brown who was snubbed from the Olympic team respond on Wednesday night?
