BSJ Game Report: Celtics 126, Hawks 101 - 'Other guys' step up big in Celtics rout of Atlanta

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics win over the Atlanta Hawks with BSJ insight and analysis:

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics built a big lead thanks mostly to the “other” guys. Jayson Tatum was cold, Jaylen Brown was in foul trouble, but Derrick White ran the team beautifully, Sam Hauser, Grant Williams, and Payton Pritchard banged 3-pointers, and the Hawks flat-out stunk. Then in the fourth, Brown and Tatum slammed the door to cap the blowout win.

Box Score

HEADLINES

Not skipping a beat: No one would have batted an eye if the Celtics lost this one. No Marcus Smart, No Malcolm Brogdon, Tatum was off, Brown couldn't stay on the floor, and the Hawks had just come off two wins against the Milwaukee Bucks. They are a good team. Derrick White stepped up to fill the void and Boston’s shooting specialists just kept dropping hammers on the Hawks. 

Supporting cast supporting the stars: They got double-digits from Williams, White, Hauser, Pritchard, and Luke Kornet. Tatum and Brown combined for 41 and the Celtics still put up 126 points. 

Hawks were due for one of these: They had been allowing a lot of 3-pointers but teams had been shooting about 32% against them. The Celtics dropped a 21-46 (45.7%) shooting night on them to change those numbers a bit. We can call that regression to the mean for Atlanta. 

TURNING POINT

Amazingly, Brown going to the bench with foul trouble was the start of the Celtics' true demolition of the Hawks. He sat early in the third quarter with his fourth foul, a charge call, and the score 65-58. They ended up going on a 20-7 run after that, and they finished the quarter out-scoring the Hawks 32-20. 

SIX UP

Derrick White: A wonderful performance in the absence of two of Boston’s point guards. A whole lot more coming up separately on White, and why this is why teams pay to have this kind of depth. 16 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, another charge taken, and just 2 turnovers … one of which wasn’t even his fault. 

Grant Williams: He was dancing out there. The footwork he showed on a couple of his up-fake, one-dribble, step-back, side-step 3-pointers was kind of wild to see. I feel like I need to ask him if he took dance classes as part of his offseason work. 18 points on 6-10 shooting (4-7 3pt) was just a great night’s work.

Sam Hauser: The Hawks didn’t seem to get the scouting report that Hauser likes to take 3-pointers. He was 5-6 from deep and they were barely contested. 

Luke Kornet: How’s about a 7-7 night from Kornet, who is challenging Ed Pinkney as the master of the reverse dunk (if you know, you know). Slowly, Kornet is showing why Boston thought he’d be fine in this role. 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots is a nice night. 

Payton Pritchard: Add it to the pile of evidence that this kid needs to play more. Not much more for me to say about him at this point. He was 4-6 from deep, including a pair of really crucial 3-pointers at the end of the first half. 

People who read and listen to me regularly can probably guess what I’m about to say here…

… clutch baskets don’t just happen in the fourth quarter. The Hawks were closing the gap in the second quarter and Pritchard hit a pair of 3-pointers, including a first-half buzzer-beater after Trae Young grifted a pair of free throws to apparently cut the Celtics lead to 6 going into the half. The Hawks looked like they were going into the half with some momentum, and Pritchard snuffed it out.

Jaylen Brown: It’s too bad he was in foul trouble because he had 22 points in 23 minutes on 10-17 shooting. He wasn’t hitting from deep, either, but this could have been a big night for him. I wanted to put him in the “down” category just to highlight the point of Boston’s supporting cast carrying the team, but Brown was too good in the minutes he did play.

ONE DOWN

Jayson Tatum: He was due for an off night overall. He still had 19 points, but he shot 31.6% and 3-10 from deep. It wasn’t really a ‘bad’ game, per se. He still had 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and just 2 turnovers, but he was just ice-cold from the field. 

TOP PLAYS

TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Time to give Joe Mazzulla his flowers

Mazzulla has been thrust into a tough situation. He became head coach and wasn’t able to hire his own staff because of the circumstances. He’s carrying around the interim tag because of the legal implications with Ime Udoka, who is still technically Boston’s head coach. 

It’s not ideal. 

But what Mazzulla has been able to do with this team needs its proper recognition. This was a game that should have been tougher than it was. This was the classic “If I told you…” premise to set up the misdirect. Everything pointed to a loss, and the Celtics came out with a win. 

Mazzulla, for what it’s worth, will Matrix his way into avoiding credit for anything that goes right. 

“Credit to the guys for their humility to step up when people aren't playing and for when it's not their turn to be ready for when it is,” he said after the win. “Our depth allows us to play in a lot of different ways. Guys have fun doing it and they work hard together, and we gotta fight to keep it that way. But it's all about the guys and their ability to adapt and adjust and find different ways to play hard and play together.”

Mazzulla has been brilliant offensively, and his creativity has propelled Boston to the best record in the league. He’s finding ways to maximize his players and they're rewarding him on the court. 

The organization is fully behind Mazzulla, so let there be no doubt about where he stands. The interim tag is simply a formality that exists to allow the Celtics to deal with Udoka’s situation in the least disruptive way possible. At some point, he will be named head coach. To his credit, he understands and accepts the bigger picture. 

A lot of talk at times like this becomes about what people deserve. Mazzulla understands that concept is a distraction. 

“We all deserve a lot of things, but at the end of the day, we gotta do what's best for each other and what's best for the team,” he said. “At this point, it's really just about the guys and their ability to step up … you can't do it without the guys' humility and understanding and professionalism and work ethic.”

He’ll hate that he’s even getting any credit, but the credit is due. We’ve talked so much about Tatum’s MVP candidacy, but Mazzulla might be in line for an end-of-season award himself.