Five observations from the C's snapping a three-game losing streak against the Hawks to improve to 10-9 on the season.
Box Score
1. The Celtics came out with a sense of urgency we haven’t seen in weeks: Effort was going to be more important than ever with Al Horford (sore knee) sidelined on Friday night and with the prospect of losing two straight games against the bottom tier of the Eastern Conference staring them in the face, the C’s answered the bell early. The first quarter was essentially a snapshot of what Celtics fans envisioned the offense looking like before the season.
The visitors shot 64 percent from the field, went 8-of-12 from downtown and dished out 12 assists on their 16 made baskets, helping the C’s nearly double the Hawks up in the first quarter (45-23). Atlanta’s horrific defense (Trae Young says hello) was a big part of the outburst but the C’s were running on all cylinders into this frame. Irving pulled up for 3s with ease from the top of the key and Aron Baynes (season-high 16 points) did work down low in the post and on the offensive glass. Marcus Morris and Jayson Tatum also chipped in carrying the offense in spurts, helping Boston played mistake-free basketball in the period (one turnover). The offense didn’t come close to looking this crisp again for the rest of the night (69 points over final three frames) but the fact that they avoided a deficit for the entire game was a victory in itself.
2. Semi Ojeleye isn’t afraid of the basket anymore: The second-year forward got a chance at some extended minutes with Horford resting his sore knee and he was almost unrecognizable at times based on his aggression attacking the rim. We saw flashes of this from Ojeleye during summer league but it hasn’t been part of his game during the regular season, where he’s been strictly a 3-point shooter and passer on the perimeter. The end results weren’t exactly pretty (2-of-6 inside the paint) but the fact that the 24-year-old is trying to add this aspect to his game is important for the long-term. He’s going to be the odd man out of the rotation on most nights when the C’s are healthy but his role is guaranteed to grow next year with uncertainty about the future of free agents to be like Marcus Morris, Daniel Theis and Terry Rozier. Boston’s offense becomes tougher to defend when guys are dual threats, making Ojeleye’s growth something to keep an eye on.
3. An important night of rest for the starters: The C’s led by as many as 29 points in the second quarter, an advantage Boston leaned on for the rest of the night amid some ugly stretches of offense that included unforced turnovers and ill-advised shot selection. Still, they did not let any Hawks runs get too close, keeping the lead above 15 points for the majority of the second half, which allowed Brad Stevens to limit Kyrie Irving to just 20 points on the front end of a back-to-back. No rotation players played over 25 minutes on the night and with the C’s in the midst of the busiest stretch of the season (eight games over 13 days), that will come in handy on this trip with the toughest tests of the trip looming in Dallas and New Orleans.
4. Gordon Hayward continues to find his rhythm: We haven’t seen many strong back-to-back performances much from Hayward this year but the swingman was an integral part of the team’s first-half outburst on Friday night. He did a little bit of everything (11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks) in 20 minutes and led the team with plus-20 on the night. Hayward hit a couple of his jumpers on the night in rhythm off the dribble and he’s been more of a spark on the offensive end as he helped spray the ball around and produce a balanced performance that featured six Celtics scoring in double figures. With the C’s struggling so much with him on the floor prior to Wednesday night, a sign of his progress is coming with his on-floor impact on winning (he's led the team in plus/minus in two straight games). That type of shift will be essential for this team to put together consistent basketball.
5. The Hawks are probably the worst team in the league: The Celtics couldn’t have asked for a better opponent on Friday night given how lost this Atlanta team looked (10 straight losses) now for the majority of the evening on both ends. Trae Young shows flashes but can’t defend for the life of him. There is minimal spacing around him (Hawks shot 6-of-35 from 3-point range) and this is altogether a group with some long-term potential but no go-to scorers for now. Their issues helped the C’s withstand some sloppy stretches and poor offense in the final 36 minutes without worrying much about their double-digit lead.
TWO UP
Baynes: Season-high 16 points and four assists. He looks to be in the starting lineup for good and showed off some of the chemistry we saw last year with Irving early.
Smart: An ugly shooting night (1-of-6) but a team-high seven assists and helped set the tone defensively in the first half with a team-high three steals. That type of intensity helped Boston overcome their offensive woes after the first quarter.
TWO DOWN
Taking care of the ball: 15 turnovers over the final three quarters, many of which came via ill-advised passes into traffic. The C’s won’t be able to get away with that against more high-powered offenses in Dallas and New Orleans.
Trae Young: 5 points, 3 turnovers and a minus-35 in just 19 minutes of action. The Hawks giving up Luka Doncic to move down for him looks like a bigger mistake by the day.
TOP PLAYS
Tatum with the MONSTER putback! #SunLifeDunk4Diabetes pic.twitter.com/SBxlRJAbO3
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 24, 2018
Scary Terry gets it done on both ends in tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game! pic.twitter.com/NekJebLYuN
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 24, 2018