A two-game home winner, the Boston Celtics hit the road Friday night to attempt the toughest feat of any playoff series: winning their first game on the road. But despite hitting 21 three-pointers for the evening, the Celtics found themselves mired in reds. Atlanta Hawks On offense, they missed a chance to take a 3-0 series lead with a 130-122 loss.
Jason Tatum led the way this evening with a 29-10-5-2 stat streak. Behind him was an all-out outing from Boston’s deep guardroom, as Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon combined for 43 points and scored a 10-point triple. The Hawks have reversed the script of the series to this point, however, apparently scoring at will and maintaining wire-to-wire control of the game. The Seven Hawks scored in double figures, led by Trae Young’s 32 points and 9 assists in what was easily his best performance of the series to date.
After a slow start that saw them trail by double digits early in Game 2, the Celtics found a better pace getting out of the gate in Game 3. They reached thirty-nine and raced to 37 points in the first quarter, 19 of which came from Tatum. and the newly crowned sixth man, Malcolm Brogdon. However, the defense that excelled in the first two games of the series looked a little lackluster this time around, allowing the Falcons to shoot better than 50% from the field and score 33 points of their own. Looks like it was early – this wasn’t going to be a defense forward match.
The Hawks have hit at least one big run in every game of the series so far, and this time, it appears to come as a starter in the second quarter. They jumped ahead on a 12-5 advantage to start the quarter, though Smart’s third and fourth three-pointers of the night slowed the lead a bit. Atlanta’s offense was quite the cooking. The Hawks shot 65% from the field in the first half – including 35 points off the bench – and even the Celtics’ 15 triple-double couldn’t stop them from building a double-digit lead. Boston tied the game 9-2 late in the quarter somewhat odds, but the Celtics trailed at halftime by seven, 74-76.
Four minutes into the second half, the game was again tied. Boston opened the half on a 12-5 lead, holding the game at 79 – all with eight minutes to play in the third. The Falcons responded quickly, regaining an eight-point lead, but the frantic offensive pace finally slowed in the ensuing minutes. Both teams are somewhat back on the floor, with the Celtics particularly struggling to convert in a number of second chance chances. Quarter-finals in a nutshell: Brogdon missed a wide open three-point attempt in the final minute, and Robert Williams III grabbed the ensuing board but missed the return attempt. The Celtics entered the final quarter trailing by seven points, 100-93.
Grant Williams found his way back into the rotation after a pair of DNP-CDs to open the series, and he looked energized in his return to the court. He’s had his hands in everything this evening, taking advantage of all of his threes, making two assists, passing quickly and pulling a charge. He lifted the Celtics in a major way this evening, and may have regained a regular rotation going forward this postseason.
Boston took an 11–0 lead at the end of the third quarter into the early minutes of the fourth again, putting the Celtics ahead by a shot. They stayed on one possession by the Hawks for the opening minutes of the quarter, but consecutive punts from Young and DeAndre Hunter put Atlanta back up to seven with seven minutes to play. Obviously, this game is going to fall apart.
Tatum re-dunked the Celtics within three minutes with just over four minutes left in regulation, which led to a shutout by Hawks coach Quinn Snyder. Back and forth, the two teams went for the next several possessions, with Boston getting just one point over the Hawks over the next two minutes of game time. With two minutes left to play, a three-run layup by Young—enjoying his best game of the series to date—gave the Hawks a five-point advantage.
Points came quickly over the next minute. Boston responded to Young’s three with a layup from Smart, which was quickly erased by a third off by Murray, which was then erased by a three by Smart. In a crucial sequence, the Celtics finally found a defensive stop, but Tatum couldn’t connect with a tying three on the ensuing possession, and Young’s floater put the Hawks ahead five times with just 45 seconds left. This proved to be the decisive moment of the night—Brown missed a three-pointer on the next Celtics possession, and it was the Celtics’ final moments of the evening.
After that, the series will continue to move forward this weekend, as the Celtics will stay in Atlanta for Game 4 against the Hawks this Sunday at 7 PM EST on TNT.