BSJ Game Report: Hawks 108, Celtics 92 - Poor shooting, killer turnovers doom Celtics

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics' loss to the Atlanta Hawks with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics started out slow, turning the ball over a bunch and missing open shots. They were able to keep it somewhat close, but the ends of the first and second quarters were disasters for the Celtics. They came out of the half and, despite some early Hawks spurts, were able to put a massive dent in the Hawks lead with a 30-18 third. Boston had a chance to take a lead in the fourth, but the Hawks went on a massive run to close the game.

Box Score 

HEADLINES

Fourth-quarter disaster: This one had a little of everything. Turnovers by the stars in big moments, missed open shots, questionable lineups -- just the full gamut of Celtics mistakes in a spot where the Hawks were just begging to collapse. It’s like one of those boxing videos where the guy is knocked out but somehow he falls onto the opponent and clinches and stays on his feet then finds a way to sneak an uppercut in and stumble away with the win. 

“We got it down to one, settled for some tough shots. We could have attacked like we did in the third but settled for some cross-matches,” Ime Udoka said. “We settled for some threes and turned the ball over. Pretty much that simple. Eighteen for the night for 24 points and some came during that crucial stretch where we either settled or didn’t get a shot off at all.”

Turnovers are back: Let me reiterate that last number by Udoka: 18 turnovers for 24 Hawks points, and once again the worst offenders were Jayson Tatum (5) and Jaylen Brown (7). There's a line between carrying the team and trying to do too much. The Hawks were incredibly active defensively, and the Celtics didn’t adjust well.

Hawks bench is deep: I rarely expect the Celtics bench to outscore anyone, but the 46-17 disparity in this game was BRUTAL. The Hawks can hit teams with some firepower off the bench, and I knew when Bogdan Bogdanovic got it going early that it was going to be an issue. Then throw in the fact that Danilo Gallinari somehow becomes a first-team All-NBA player against the Celtics, and Boston already was in for a tough night where they had to play a pretty clean game to win. 

Cold shooting returns: They shot 19.4% on 3-pointers, their fourth game under 20% this season.

TURNING POINT

The Celtics had the ball and the lead down to 85-84. Tatum launched a 3-pointer, but Grant Williams grabbed the offensive rebound (while on the ground, mind you) and kicked it over to Brown, who also missed a 3-pointer. The Celtics had another chance with the ball but Tatum turned it over. Atlanta outscored Boston 23-8 over the final 8:20.

SECOND GUESS

Just when I thought Ime Udoka was past the Marcus Smart/Dennis Schroder overlapping minutes, there they were again in the fourth quarter. 

Smart checked in with the score 86-84 Atlanta. When Schroder checked out, it was 97-86 Atlanta. The one Boston score was when Smart was initiating the offense. 

ONE UP

Marcus Smart: Smart was the only guy who had anything going offensively. Yes, he was scoring, but he was also pushing the pace and looking to create. This is part of why the double point guard lineup was so confusing. Smart facilitating was the best thing Boston had working on offense and they went away from it. 

FIVE DOWN

Jayson Tatum: Tatum wasn’t bad in this game, necessarily. He made some big defensive plays even in the midst of another tough shooting night. But he turned the ball over, including an early stretch of some baffling passes. And then he admittedly settled for shots where could have attacked. 

Jaylen Brown: Brown is in a similar boat, with even more turnovers. 

“I’ve gotta make better reads. I’ve gotta be more aggressive,” Brown said after the game. “I think I was shooting when I was supposed to pass and passing when I was supposed to shoot. Atlanta did a good job of keeping me on my toes, but just overall a lax game. Too many turnovers. And that’s my fault.”

Dennis Schroder: He had one decent stretch and it was parlayed into including him in a rough lineup in the fourth, but he ended up a game-worst -18 because Trae Young saw him defensively and attacked whenever he could.

Josh Richardson: I thought he could use his size against Young but he was ineffective and made some poor offensive decisions. If he’s not going to be impactful off the bench, the Celtics' chances drop a fair amount. 

Grant Williams: The same applies when Williams isn't hitting his 3’s. He missed all four shots he took, three of them 3-pointers.

TOP PLAY

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Maybe it’s as simple as this: The Celtics just need to hit shots to win. 

The Celtics shot 7-36 from deep. 19.4%. 

They're 0-8 when they shoot less than 27%. They're 20-9 when they shoot better than 34%. 

The Celtics lack shooting and when their best shooters don’t have it, they don’t have a Bogdanovic on the bench to come in and start tossing darts. When the Celtics bench or role players aren’t hitting shots, it all falls on Tatum and Brown, and Udoka feels compelled to toss weird lineups out there and hope for the best. 

And I can sit there and say “play Aaron Nesmith more” but Nesmith comes into games and misses the rim by feet, not inches. 

I really don’t feel like this was a typical Celtics loss where they came off two blowouts and sauntered into State Farm Arena like Xerxes in 300, snapped their fingers, and demanded capitulation to their new basketball Gods. 

The Celtics played hard. They just didn’t play well enough. 

So they have two choices: Get some shooting in here immediately, or they have to admit to themselves that some nights they just don’t have it and that mentality that the next shot is going to go in needs to be tabled at least a little bit. 

Because while I do trust Tatum and Brown to make plays, they have to understand that the early shot clock 3-pointers on nights like this are not good. 

And I admit that this particular analysis is a little too focused on whether the shots fall, but it’s also obvious that those early shot clock 3’s are either falling or they're not. I don’t mind some heat checks early in the game to see how accurate their internal scopes are, but they have to admit that when the shots aren’t falling that they need to be much more open to doing something else.