BSJ Game Report: Celtics 134, Hawks 125 - Smart ejected, Celtics hold off late Hawks run

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

IN A NUTSHELL 

Neither team was keen on playing defense in the first quarter, with a combined 73 points going on the board and the Hawks leading by 1. Both teams were hot from the field, but Atlanta cooled off with Trae Young off the floor in the second and Boston opened a 15-point lead running off their stops. The lead settled at 10 at half but Boston kept it around 12-16 throughout the third. The Hawks made their run in the fourth, fueled largely by second-chance points, cutting it to 5 with 3:57 left, but Al Horford helped close the door. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

Holding on: The Celtics had a big lead, the Hawks made a big run, the Celtics got stops when they needed to at the end and ended up winning by 9. At this game’s core, this is the most important storyline. Build a lead, withstand a run, close it out. They did that. Now we can go deeper. 

Will someone please box out?: The Hawks grabbed 5 offensive rebounds for 6 second-chance points in the fourth quarter alone. Take those away and the Celtics' 5 point lead midway through the quarter is an 11 point one. The Hawks were +15 in second-chance points, and old issue that continues to creep up from time to time.

Jayson Tatum steps up: The Hawks' defense was awful but Tatum took full advantage. He was 6-10 in the restricted area and had a couple of layups lip out on him. If he can start getting those to fall and start finishing at a 70-80% clip like he was doing earlier in the season, the Celtics will probably go on a bit of a run here. 

Marcus Smart ejected: I’ll address Smart’s actions later, but here’s the play: 

Smart clearly felt like Young's kick was intentional on some level, which is why he went after him. Here’s the NBA pool report on the play between Lauren Williams of the AJC and Crew Chief Sean Wright:

QUESTION: “Why was Marcus Smart ejected from tonight’s game?”

WRIGHT: “He was ejected for the grab and take down of Trae Young.”

QUESTION: “What was unnatural about that move that warranted being ejected?

WRIGHT: “[Smart] grabs [Young] and slams him to the ground.”

QUESTION: “Why was Trae Young assessed a technical?”

WRIGHT: “For getting up and pointing in Marcus Smart’s Face”

QUESTION: “And, why wasn’t Trae Young ejected from tonight’s game?”

WRIGHT: “His actions did not rise to the level of an ejection.”

QUESTION: “What was deemed inappropriate about Trae Young’s interaction with Marcus Smart?”

WRIGHT: “His pointing in [Smart’s] face was deemed inappropriate and that is why we assessed a technical foul.”

Grant Williams, DNP-CD: He didn’t play at all, losing his minutes to Blake Griffin again. More on this separately.

TURNING POINT 

Down 6 with less than a minute to go, the Hawks had come up with multiple offensive rebounds and it looked like John Collins was about to cut it to 4 with a layup but Horford came up with a huge blocked shot. The Celtics turned that into a breakaway dunk from Malcolm Brogdon and they closed it out. 

SIX UP 

Jayson Tatum: 34 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, a block and a turnover. He was 5-14 from 3 (35.7%) and 7-11 from 2 (63.6%). The 15 boards were huge.

Jaylen Brown: His numbers swayed me here. 24 points on 55.6% shooting, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover is a really good stat line even though I think he had some lazy stretches. How he only ended up with 1 turnover is beyond me, because I thought he lost the ball a lot more than that, and the 4-point play he gave up to Saddiq Bey was not great (more on that in a second). But he also had some amazing finishes and made some good decisions with the ball at the rim.

Derrick White: He started and had a very Derrick White game of 18 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds while shooting 70% from the field. What more can I say about the guy?

Malcolm Brogdon: 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and he shot 8-12 on the night. He also had a few missed layups that could have made his night even more impressive. 

Blake Griffin: 15 minutes of solid basketball and 8 points to boot. 

Sam Hauser: Exactly the kind of night you want from Hauser, going 4-5 from 3. 

ONE DOWN

Marcus Smart: He was 3-6 from 3 and he had some nice assists, but I don’t like when he drives with the intent of getting fouled rather than driving to score or draw the defense. The loss of composure on the ejection was a problem. I know he and Young have a history, but Smart has to be better than that. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- I’m not entirely thrilled with the closing stretch

On one hand, the Celtics were able to hold on and win the game. The offensive rebounds they gave up were the main problem, and if they cleaned that up, this would have been an easy win. 

But one thing that bugged me about the end was the Brown foul on Bey, which was a lazy closeout that led to a 4-point play, and then the Smart situation with Young that got him ejected. 

Brown should have been more disciplined, closing out harder and under control. They were up 10, so the worst-case scenario is a 4-point play there. And Smart has to have better recognition of the situation there. 

Mazzulla talks about needing poise in those situations and two of his best players didn’t have it in spots where the Celtics needed it. It didn’t matter against the Hawks. It would matter against a better team. 

- This game supports my Tatum “two day off” plan. 

I laid out my plan for Tatum to get rest by taking back-to-backs off the rest of the way and giving him a nice upcoming stretch of two days off between games starting later next week. 

He came out in this one looking bouncy and fast, and a bit like his old MVP candidate self. I think he went a little too 3 crazy (I don’t think his 3-pointer with 1:04 left was a good shot at all)  and he got away from what was working a little too much, but I’m going to take his early performance as an indicator that a couple of days off for Tatum is going to be really beneficial for him moving forward. I’ll save this one as Exhibit A in my favor.

Next up: The Celtics road trip continues Monday night at 8:00 p.m. in Houston