Final: Celtics 110, Hawks 107

The Hawks put a big scare into the Celtics on Monday night at Phillips Arena, but the visitors managed to hold off the late charge and escape with their ninth-straight win, a 110-107 victory. Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 35 points in the win with a very efficient 14-of-22 shooting line. Jayson Tatum added 21 points and eight rebounds, including a clutch 3-pointer in the corner to help stretch Boston's lead to four in the final minute of the game. Al Horford flirted with a triple-double all night as well (15 points, 10 rebounds 9 assists), helping the Celtics put the finishing touches on a successful three-game road trip.

The Celtics will go for their tenth straight win on Wednesday night against Lonzo Ball and the Lakers at the TD Garden in a nationally televised contest.

THIRD QUARTER ANALYSIS

• It took a Brad Stevens timeout just 47 seconds into the corner to wake the Celtics defense up, but it finally did the trick after Marcus Smart was inserted into the game a couple minutes into the frame.


• After shooting 56 percent in the first half, the Hawks were locked down a bit by some more aggressive defense all over the floor, which brought down to field goal percentage to 33 percent in the quarter.


• Al Horford continued to do a little bit of everything for the visitors, pushing his triple-double watch to 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.


• Kyrie Irving is flirting with season-high after scoring 23 points after three quarters (needs 25 to match it).

• Hawks have shown a lot more scrappiness early in the frame compared to the C's bench, outhustling the likes of Marcus Smart on one particular fast break that earned the guard a spot on the bench after a time out.


• Surprise offense from the likes of Dwayne Dedmon, who is not known as a scorer. He posted eight points in the frame on a mix of midrange jumpers and strong finishes in the paint.


• Shane Larkin was brought in to put some pressure on Dennis Schroder but didn't last long. He wasn't particularly useful on the offensive end, settling for jumpers.


• Hawks are one of the first teams this year that are breaking down the C's defense well. Shooting well above 50 percent and posted over 50 points, putting them on pace to be the first opponent to break the 95 point mark against the C's during the winning streak. Could have been even worse if it wasn't for 10 first half turnovers by the hosts


• Big 3-point shot from Terry Rozier to end the half for Boston after a rough shooting night (1-of-5) early.


• Probably the best offensive first half we've seen from Kyrie Irving in a Celtics uniform. 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a pair of sensational drives.


• Particularly superb passing from Al Horford (5 assists in first half)

• Another first quarter, another slow offensive start by the C's. They hovered around the 30 percent mark for the better part of the frame and shot just 3-of-10 from downtown.


• The bigger problem for the C's is that their better offensive options (Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown) both got into foul trouble early. Irving picked up a quick pair, while Jaylen Brown got whistled for three in just nine minutes.


• The foul trouble forced the Brad Stevens to go deep into his shorthanded bench early, with bench minutes for Abdel Nader in the latter part of the quarter with Brown stuck on the pine.


• More terrific passing from Al Horford early. He found Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis for easy buckets with great passes on cuts by both players.


• The Hawks really have a low of subpar offensive players. They play hard, but this is a game the Celtics should take easily if they can shake off their slow start and keep the turnovers down.

• The Hawks have been as bad as their record indicates this year, barring an upset of the Cavs on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. They rank in the bottom third in both offensive and defensive efficiency and don't have many reliable offensive weapons outside of Bazemore and Schroder (who aren't good first options).


• Atlanta is also an awful rebounding team overall, so look for the C's winning the rebounding battle (six straight games) to continue.


• With Marcus Morris resting, look for Aron Baynes to get the nod at the starting center spot on Monday night, especially since he'll be matched up against a traditional big man in Dwayne Dedmon.


• The Celtics' current winning streak is the longest of the Brad Stevens era, but they still have a long way to go to match their previous-high: 14 straight games in 2010-11 when the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Delonte West were still on the roster.