BSJ Game Report: Hawks 120, Celtics 118 - Celtics stumble down the stretch, lose after leading by 30

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

IN A NUTSHELL

Boston started big, with Jayson Tatum essentially serving as the point guard, and it worked. Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis led a first-quarter double-up, 44-22. The lead ballooned to 30 in the second but a late Hawks run cut it to 18 at the half. Then Atlanta came out hot and extended the run to 30-7, making it a three-point game, but Payton Pritchard turned it on in the third to hold onto the lead. The Hawks kept coming, getting blistering hot from 3 while the Celtics missed everything and fell apart trying to slow the game down.

HEADLINES

- Late game woes … again: I’ll get into this … again … separately. The Celtics keep getting hit over the head with a lesson that they need to learn at some point. Tatum and Brown just isolating is not a good strategy. They might score every once in a while, but it’s not a winning strategy. 

- Disrespecting the game: They built a 30-point lead by playing great basketball and attacking a Hawks team that had nothing to start the game. But instead of putting it away, they started to relax in the second quarter and they gave up a run. Then they gave up another one in the third. Then they gave up ANOTHER one in the fourth. You have to respect the game and play the right way the whole time. 

- Make/miss league: Boston shot 5-7 from 3 to start the game. They were 6-31 the rest of the way, 1-15 in the second half. Atlanta shot 11-19. The Hawks hit a ton of tough shots while Boston missed some clean looks. 

TURNING POINT

The Celtics went up 68-38, and subsequently gave up a 30-7 run. That gave Atlanta all the life they needed for the rest of the night. Even after Boston answered and pushed the game back to 11, the Hawks had the juice to keep coming back. 

THINGS I LIKED

Building that 30-point lead: They looked great. Just dominant. They had it all working. They attacked, drew fouls, defended, ran … it was gorgeous basketball. They had some of their best offensive possessions of the season early in that game. 

Where did that offense go?

Jaden Springer’s defense: You can tell why Brad Stevens picked him up. There's a lot of potential for him to be the next big defensive anchor for Boston. He needs to develop the 3-point shot, which can come with time. The defense, though, is high-level and as his reputation as a defender grows in the league, he’ll avoid some of the ticky-tack fouls he gets.

Payton Pritchard’s third quarter: It looked like he was doing enough to hold off the Hawks until the big guns could come back in and finish the job. He held up his end of the bargain. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

Late-game execution: Again, I’ll get into this separately, but the Celtics need to fix how they approach the last few minutes of these tight games. 

The defense after the first quarter: Boston gave up 22 points in the first and then gave up 34, 34, and 30 points the rest of the way. That's not going to cut it no matter how they execute down the stretch. Even if Boston had won, giving up 98 points in three quarters. 

I wrote in the preview that they have to defend because the Hawks are capable of scoring 100 through three quarters. If I can see that coming, they should be keen to that possibility and step up before it got this point.

Sam Hauser: So much for staying hot. He was 2-10 from 3. 

Kristaps Porzingis: He was 1-6 in the second half for two points. I thought Porzingis was supposed to be the answer to stopping runs like the one the Hawks were on. Are they saving something for the playoffs? 

Jayson Tatum's eight-second violation: Walking the ball up against no pressure and not getting over in time is the epitome of what goes wrong for Boston in situations like this. 

HIGHLIGHTS

TWO TAKES KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- No lead is safe.

I was just like everyone else at 68-38. I thought this thing was over not just because Boston had a big lead, but the Hawks were playing terribly. There was no indication that they were turning this particular game around. 

But it doesn’t take much in today’s NBA, especially when the lead is in the second quarter. Once the Hawks shooters got some confidence, they took off. A 30-point lead in the first half is nice, but it’s also dangerous because there's more time left in the game for the other team to make up that gap than the time it took to build that lead. 

Boston’s lead hit 30 over 19:37 of play. That meant the Hawks had had 28:23 of gameplay to try to beat that number. That's a lot of extra time for a team capable of scoring in bunches to put up a lot of points. 

If there's one lesson I want the Celtics to learn is that leads aren’t what they used to be. I think we’ve all come to accept that 20-point leads, even to start the fourth, aren’t very safe anymore. So if that's the case, why would adding 10 more points to that with more than a quarter to go be any different? If you think a 20-point lead can be overcome in the fourth, then even a 40-point halftime lead shouldn’t be considered safe. 

The 3-pointer has changed the game. The Celtics, of all teams, should know this. They need to get it through their heads that these leads aren’t safe at any point. 

- De’Andre Hunter, messenger of The Basketball Gods.

The 3-pointer he took after Atlanta’s offensive rebound, up one with :11 left, was beyond outrageous. It was a dumb shot, but it went in, and it’s just what Boston deserved in that moment. That shot should have missed, Boston should have gotten the board, an they should have won the game so we could clown the stupidity of that shot. 

But The Basketball Gods had determined that the Celtics had done too much to disrespect the game to that point, so they let the shot fall. 

Seriously, that was such a bad decision. It’s like splitting kings at the blackjack tables and being dealt two aces. You shouldn’t be congratulated for it because it worked. 

Next up: The Celtics get the chance for immediate revenge in a rematch with the Hawks on Thursday night.