Everything you need to know about the Celtics' 112-107 win over the Hawks with BSJ insight and analysis
Box Score
HEADLINES
Six straight wins: Jayson Tatum posted his second straight game with 30-plus points and Romeo Langford had a career-night as the Celtics came out on top in a battle of two very shorthanded squads on Friday. Three starters (Brown, Hayward, Theis) were out for Boston due to injury while Atlanta only had nine active players including no All-Star in Trae Young. The hosts came out on top, however, thanks to a strong second half led by 32 points from Jayson Tatum on just 19 shot attempts. Kemba Walker added 15 points in his return from injury and Enes Kanter had a double-double but the biggest contribution of the night may have been from Langford who had a career-high 16 points off the bench in 29 minutes.
Kemba returns with no knee pain: The All-Star point guard was back after a three-game absence due to a sore knee. While his box score wasn't very impressive (15 points, 5 assists) in his return, the more important development after the game was the veteran reporting no pain in the sore left knee that had been giving him issues all year long while playing 30 minutes. "It was more than just rest," Walker said of the recovery. "I was getting treatment and some strengthening. The rest as well has definitely helped me, not only physically but mentally as well." Having a healthy Walker is essential for the C's in the final two months and the cautious approach by the training staff appears to have paid off thus far.
TURNING POINT
The Celtics took control of the game midway through the third quarter with a 22-6 run thanks to some efficient scoring by Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum. Atlanta fell behind by double digits in this stretch and never seriously threatened over the final 14 minutes of the game.
TWO UP
Jayson Tatum: The All-Star continues his stellar run of efficiency as the top scoring weapon this roster, posting his second straight game with 30 points for the first time in his career He now has scored 20 points or more in eight consecutive games and is averaging 27.0 ppg on 48 percent shooting during that stretch.
Romeo Langford: The rookie played the most of any bench player, cracking 20 minutes for the second straight game. He scored a career-high 16 points but his biggest impact came on the defensive end with several good rotations, deflections and taking a charge. Brad Stevens faith showed in him with some crunch-time minutes and it paid off.
ONE DOWN
Semi Ojeleye: Rough shooting night for the forward beyond the arc, knocking down just 1-of-6 from downtown, which limited his playing time in the second half.
TOP PLAY
The rook @yeahyeah22 was getting it done on both ends tonight, including this swat for tonight’s @JetBlue Play of the Game! pic.twitter.com/Nq8RHRUDGf
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 8, 2020
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Jayson Tatum is going to make a run at All-NBA team if this keeps up: Getting elected to the All-Star game was a nice honor for the third-year forward but Tatum has hit a different level in the last month when it comes to his scoring and efficiency. He became the first Celtic tonight since Paul Pierce to have back-to-back 30 point games in his first three seasons. He’s now averaging 26.8 points on 48 percent shooting and 47.7 percent from 3-point range over the last eight games, leading the C’s to a 7-1 record despite injuries up and down the lineup during that run. That type of production combined with his contributions on a top-5 defense should put him in the running among the best forwards in the NBA at the end of the season if he can sustain this type of consistency in the second half of the year. He may not get the same kind of chances when everyone is healthy but the fact that his rough shooting percentages are a distant memory from the first month of the season is a telling sign that he’s turned the corner towards potentially bigger things.
The Celtics are getting healthy just in time for the schedule to pick up: There were a few impressive wins for Boston over the past few weeks but this group was largely beating up on sub .500 squads while missing some key players. The entire team short of Rob Williams will travel on their next road trip and it comes just in time with the schedule picking up in intensity. Boston’s next eight opponents are teams from the West and seven of them are in the hunt for playoff positioning. With road tilts against OKC, Houston, the Lakers and Utah upcoming, the C’s aren’t going to be able to fool around with lackluster play in stretches like they did tonight and get away with it. They took care of business in the games they needed to but a healthy focused group will be needed if they want to stay above the .500 mark during this eight game stretch.