Karalis: Hawks get their predictable win, now the Celtics need stick to the script and finish them off

Broken clocks twice a day, sun shining on a dog’s behind, and the Hawks performance in Game 3. 

All of those have their infrequent moments, but they are also things we should see coming. 

Let’s start here: Atlanta played about as perfect a game as they were capable of playing. They were down 2-0 and they knew a third straight loss would have effectively ended their season, so they played with purpose and focus. They worked hard – harder than Boston – and they got the win they deserved. 

But let’s also be real about this game.

The Hawks bench shot 16-22, just about 73%. They were 19-51, 37%, in their first two games, so they’ve proven the old adage that role players play better at home. But this much better? That's a stretch. 

The Hawks hit some ridiculous shots to close the game. This shot from Trae Young was absurd. 

“They made some super tough shots down the line in the fourth quarter,” Jaylen Brown said. “Trae with the step back over Al (Horford) in the corner. Dejounte (Murray) heavily contested in the corner as well. Those were two big 3s that they made. We just got to do better in the first three quarters so down the stretch we gotta be in a better spot.”

This was always going to be Atlanta’s best shot at snatching a game from Boston, and they did exactly what they set out to do. The Celtics probably felt a little too comfortable, and as a result they let the Hawks get comfortable as well. Boston gave up 130 points overall and 41 points in a pivotal second quarter where control of the game shifted from the Celtics to the Hawks. The Celtics had their chances, but once they let the momentum get away, they could never get it back. 

And that's fine in the grand scheme of things. 

“I didn’t think we were going to win every game in the playoffs,” Jayson Tatum said. “They played well tonight. We’ll come back, get some rest, watch film, learn from it, and I’m extremely motivated, confident that we’re going to play better next game.” 

Of course, playing better in the next game is the key to making this entire take look good. I’m being very dismissive of this Hawks win because, so far, this series is going exactly like I thought it would. I knew Boston would be up 30 in Game 1. I knew Boston would have to fight harder for its lead in Game 2 but would still win easily. I knew Game 3 would be the loss when I said Celtics in 5.

The Hawks didn’t do anything differently in this game that makes me think they’ve cracked some code. They hit shots that they were missing in Games 1 and 2. Young actually started to make some shots after missing a ton in Boston. Their bench had a nearly perfect second quarter that turned a back-and-forth game into a 14-point lead at one point. 

They made a little switch to put Clint Capela on Marcus Smart, and the Hawks can maybe hang their hat on Smart’s 12 3-point attempts as their own outlier result that won’t happen again. They can tell themselves they’ll live with Smart hoisting shots because he won’t shoot better than 40% on them every night. 

And they might be right. But even with that happening, the Celtics got the ball into the hands of their stars, and those guys came up well short late in the game. 

“Got into a bit of foul trouble, affected my rhythm,” Brown said. “But I gotta be aggressive, and that's the key. For me. I wasn't aggressive enough tonight on either side of the ball and I gotta be better.” 

Tatum also took some responsibility, saying “I gotta play better, I think. I had some timely turnovers, especially some reads at the rim. Maybe try and get fouled. I gotta do a better job of making decisions. This one tonight is on me."

The next page in this script should be the part where Boston comes out Sunday night, goes up big, the Hawks make a run, but Boston closes out a tough one. Then they should go home and win Game 5 by enough to get Payton Pritchard fourth quarter run. 

There's nothing in this game that makes me think otherwise. I look up and down this game and see outlier performance after outlier performance and the Celtics still missing a wide-open look from Tatum to tie the game near the end. The Hawks hit Boston with everything and the Celtics had chance, after chance, after chance to tie or take a lead. They just never could. 

“We just got to come out and play to the level we need to,” Brown said. “I think that we took their best punch, I don't think we played as well as we could have played, and we still was in the game.”

I don't think we’ll get a duplicate of this game in Game 4. Yes, the Hawks are confident, but Boston is as well, because they did enough wrong in this game to get blown out, yet they didn’t. Brown had 15 points. Derrick White had 11. Tatum shot 36% in the second half (0% from 3). Robert Williams was less than his normal self. 

Change any one of those events and this game changes. It took the Hawks playing above their heads for them to come away with the win.

They're nowhere near as good as Boston. And if the Celtics want to back up their regular season attitude that things are different in the playoffs, now’s the time to prove it. 

Personally, I’m bought in. I think they have an answer waiting for the Hawks on Sunday night and that tonight was the Hawks one night of glory in a series where no matchup falls in their favor. They did nothing to change my mind after Game 3. 

Now for the Celtics to do nothing to change my mind about winning this series in five games.