BSJ Game Report: Celtics 113, Hawks 103 - Little things add up to a win

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

IN A NUTSHELL

The Celtics lost an early lead but rebuilt it thanks to 10 early Jayson Tatum points. He added 11 in the second to build the lead up to 17, but it could have been more had Boston defended the 3-point line better. That really hurt them in the third when Bogdan Bogdanovic went 4-5 from deep to cut a 20-point lead to 6. Boston recovered to go back up double digits in the fourth, and Tatum’s 13 points in the quarter helped hold off a last Atlanta push.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Hustle plays: Al Horford and Sam Hauser really stood out as guys who made huge differences with their hustle. Horford was especially impressive with his defense and rebounding. More on that coming up separately.

- 3-point shooting: Boston found a way to win without it (they shot 27.7%). Atlanta almost came all the way back because of it. 

“In the first half, we sent everything over the screen. In the second half, we tried to send it away from the screen, and we weren't doing what we were supposed to be doing on sending it away from the screen,” Joe Mazzulla explained. The Hawks shot 7-18 in the third quarter, including a combined 6-10 from De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic. “So the first adjustment is to do the second adjustment right and not just skip the adjustment. … We did a great job of tightening up some of that, and then we went to our switching, and we did a good job guarding them.”

The Hawks shot 2-10 in the fourth quarter. 

- Surprise performances: Dalano Banton got the start and Neemias Queta got 15 minutes off the bench with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis out. Both members of what Tatum called the “stay ready group” mostly did their jobs.

Queta had 10 rebounds, six offensive, in 15 minutes … though three of those offensive boards were off his own misses at the rim. Still, he made a positive impact with the rebounding and rim protection. He’s a big dude. 

Banton settled into the game nicely, grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds of his own, and made a few buckets. 

“DB’s been in this league for a little while. He knows how to play the game at a high level,” Tatum said. “And he’s part of that stay ready group. They come in every day, they get extra reps, they stay conditioned, they work on their reads so that in times like this when guys are in and out of the lineup we can just plug certain guys in and we can keep it rolling. He did well tonight, competed, made some big plays for us and I was happy to see him get an opportunity tonight.”

TURNING POINT

Atlanta was on a 16-3 run, cutting Boston’s 20-point lead down to six, when Mazzulla called a timeout. They put together a quick 7-3 response to stop the bleeding. They went into the fourth up eight, and the lead never dipped below that the rest of the way.

THINGS I LIKED

The hustle: The Celtics had gotten away from offensive rebounding in that loss to Orlando, and Mazzulla said before the game that it was going to be a focus for them in this game. It paid off in a big way because the second chances saved the Celtics by getting them some easy baskets and fouls. 

“We won the shot margin, we won the free throws, we won the turnovers, we won the offensive rebounds,” Mazzulla said. “Those are the things that we have to fight to do all the time. It's easier said than done, but that's a recipe for winning. And we have to fight — you’re not going to dominate all of them like that, but those are the things that we got to try to do. And I thought the effort to the offensive rebounding is what really made some winning plays for us.”

Al Horford: I’m just saying it again because it’s just so impressive that he’s doing what he’s doing out there. 

Sam Hauser: I definitely liked this hustle play. 

via GIPHY

Run the floor and don’t assume anything. He found himself in the right spot to make an important play. 

Derrick White: Bad shooting night, great impact on the game. He was 5-13 and 0-6 from 3 but he was a +29 in a game Boston won by 10. His 11 assists are a big reason for that.

Jayson Tatum: Did a little of everything, even though I wouldn’t call it a dominant performance. He finished with 34 points but felt like just another good game from him. You have to be pretty good for 34/9/4 to feel like just another night at the office. 

This Jaylen Brown dunk: 

Brown has added a few dunks to his poster collection this season. Wow. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

The 16-3 run: The Celtics were allowing some really clean looks from 3 in that run. It felt like Mazzulla was trying to get them to find their way as they switched up the defense from the first half, but Tatum’s clear path foul that led to a five-point play was too much. Just a tough lapse to let some good shooters get going. 

This defense from the Hawks: I’m including this here because I’m so completely flabbergasted by it. It’s an affront to the game of basketball, so while it led to an easy basket for Boston, it was one of the most offensive things I’ve seen in basketball. 

It takes nearly five full seconds for the ball to be inbounded and the Hawks STILL didn’t get back. That's just gross. They should all be fined for this. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

I actually like that these wins aren’t going perfectly: I understand that people are upset by some of the same or similar issues that we’ve seen from them last season. I totally get why that's the case. 

Me? I’m glad they're not peaking right away. Last year’s team came out smoking hot, fell into some bad habits, and never fully got out of them. I think the slow process of figuring things out will actually be beneficial in the end. 

“(We’re) definitely a different team from last year,” Brown said after the game. “And all of us have been adjusting, trying to figure out what this team needs to win. And however many games, 15, 16 games in, we’ve still been figuring it out, but we’ve been winning and figuring it out at the same time. We’ve still got a lot to learn. This team is not a finished product. We still have a lot to improve on, we still haven't played our best basketball yet. So we just got to continue to win games as we continue to get better at the same time.” 

It really is a different team than last year. They are trying to do more with Porzingis as a focal point, especially down the stretch. They're still working Holiday into things. They use White differently now. Horford is in a different role. Hauser is playing a lot more. Mazzulla is doing things differently, and is still in a bit of an experimental phase of the season.

“That’s something I'm much more comfortable doing this year,” Mazzull said. “Whether you leave a lineup out there a little bit longer, whether you keep a coverage going a little bit longer because you want to see it, and you want to work at it, and you want to see if that works, sometimes it's changing multiple coverages to get that. So yeah, I'm much more comfortable with that, our guys are much more open-minded to that, and so I do think you have to find that balance of doing both of those things. It may cost you a 6-0 run, an 8-0 run, I won't let it cost us a game.”

This is all important stuff to keep in mind. We want a finished product right away like this is some microwaved burrito. But this is more like your Thanksgiving turkey, that takes a long time to prepare, season, and properly cook. 

Brown was right to note that they're winning while figuring things out. Things aren’t going perfectly, but they're the best team in the NBA right now. They're undefeated at home. Imagine when they get more comfortable out there. 

Next up: The Celtics play the last of their In-Season Tournament group stage games on Tuesday night against Chicago