BSJ Game 6 Report: Celtics 128, Hawks 120 - Tatum, Brown, Smart push C's to series win

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' Game 6 win over the Atlanta Hawks, with BSJ insight and analysis

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics started strong but Trae Young’s 18 first-quarter points were a huge answer. Malcolm Brogdon came in and helped the Celtics take a one-point lead going into the second. The Hawks quickly took the lead and looked to be the aggressor in the quarter while the Celtics turned the ball over and gave up offensive rebounds. But the Celtics closed the half strong to even the quarter. The second half was a back-and-forth fight the whole way until the Celtics finally went on a late 11-0 run to get some separation and that was all they needed. 

Box Score 

HEADLINES

Whew!: No one wanted a Game 7 … well, except the Hawks, who came out HOT, especially Young. But the Celtics hung around, made adjustments, took the punches and made their run late to hold on. It’s a big sigh of relief for Celtics fans who might have been dreading the flow of this game. Now they can get a few days off and start preparing for Philly. 

Jays step up: Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 14 in the second half. Brown started the fourth quarter strong and Tatum helped finish it (especially with that big dunk). They were perfect in that closing stretch (3-3 combined with 2 assists) and they each made big defensive plays (1 block each and a steal for Tatum). 

Iced Trae: He opened up carrying over his shot shooting from Game 5 but it then quickly ran out of steam. After 18 first-quarter points, he had 7 in the second, 3 in the third, and 2 in the fourth. He didn’t make a basket after the 7:59 mark of the third quarter. 

“Marcus (Smart) was being way more aggressive and wasn't leaving me as much,” Young said. “In the 2nd half, he was just more connected to me."

Bring on Philly: The Celtics open up as heavy favorites against the Sixers. Here’s the schedule: 

• Game 1: Monday 5/1, 7:30
• Game 2: Wednesday 5/3, 8:00
• Game 3: Friday 5/5, 7:30 
• Game 4: Sunday 5/7, 3:30 
• Game 5: Tuesday 5/9, TBD
• Game 6: Thursday 5/11, TBD
• Game 7: Sunday, 5/14, TBD

Standard 2-2-1-1-1 format with Boston hosting Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. Boston has won 14 of the last 21 playoff series against the Sixers. 

TURNING POINT

Clint Capela caught an alley-oop dunk to make it 113-110 and Boston answered with an 11-0 run to take an 8-point lead. It was capped by an amazing block by Brown and a loud follow dunk by Tatum. 

The overall run ended up being 18-7.  The real highlight of the extended run was when Atlanta had four chances to inbound the ball and they couldn't 

SEVEN UP 

Jaylen Brown: Another monster performance for Brown who hit a bunch of huge shots. He was 6-8 on 3-pointers, pulling up for a few that admittedly made me gasp but he drilled them.

He carried the Celtics' offense for stretches and made sure Hawks' runs didn’t get out of hand. He led the team with 32 points. 

Jayson Tatum: So much changed for Boston when he started to get downhill consistently. He is so good when he gets into the paint (he was 6-9 in the restricted area), and he was great at accepting double teams and racking up the assists. He also led the team with 14 rebounds. He finished with 30/14/7

Marcus Smart: All of his 7 fourth-quarter points came in the final 1:31 of the fourth quarter. He finished with 22 points and was a huge factor in that fourth quarter on both ends. 

“I thought Smart was tremendous, especially late in the fourth quarter,” Joe Mazzula said. “He got us organized and then he was kind of a trigger man because of their hits and their blitzing, and he just made the right play.”

Al Horford: He bounced back from a tough series and start to this game with some huge shots in the fourth quarter. After one 3-pointer, he turned to someone in the crowd and barked something. After the game, he said the trash talk motivated him. 

“Some people you can talk trash to. You talk trash to me, it's probably not good for you.” 

Malcolm Brogdon: Again did a ton of damage early on and got to the rim at will. He was huge in keeping the Celtics close early in the game. 

Grant Williams: He was thrown into a tough situation and he responded with some strong play. 

“I thought Grant played a tremendous game,” Mazzulla said. “Credit to him for his professionalism, his humility, to just constantly be ready, and I thought he was a big part of our late-game defense because of our switching. And he really helped us in that regard.”

Joe Mazzulla: People get on him for his adjustments, but he made some in-game moves like going to Grant Williams and changing the coverages on Young. 

ONE DOWN

Derrick White: Rough night for him. He finished with 3 fouls but it felt like he was called for 30. He certainly wasn’t alone fouling, but he never could quite recover. 

TOP PLAYS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Shout out to the Hawks

I’ve been hard on that team, and they still have a lot of things that need to be fixed, but their effort across the board was amazing in this one. I was prepared for them to be in vacation mode in Game 5 and they just didn’t quit. 

- The overreactions were wild

Sorry, but I have to address the people who wanted to trade Tatum for Young after Game 5. 

I get that this is sports and we get to go crazy with our takes, but there has to be a line. Young has been as much a reason for this team’s demise over the past couple of seasons as anyone. 

He is always capable of big games, but I still don’t think he’s capable of carrying a team to prolonged success.