Atlanta Hawks: Rapid Reaction to Close Loss to Celtics
By Chris Guest
A quick recap of the Atlanta Hawks defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics earlier this afternoon.
In a rare 12:30 p.m. EST tip-off, the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Boston Celtics by a final margin of 129 to 120. This was a rather entertaining matchup with both teams playing well.
The Celtics erupted in the third quarter and also played well to close out the first half. However, the Hawks would scratch and claw their way back into the game and brought the game back within 4 points late in the 4th quarter – and even tying it up at 112 points apiece with 5:53 left in the game.
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After that, there were back-to-back steals by both teams (one by Dewayne Dedmon and one by the inimitable Marcus Smart), which lead to a Jaylen Brown three-pointer.
From that moment when the two teams were tied, the Celtics outscored the Hawks 17 to 9.
Throughout the game, however, the Atlanta Hawks were led by its youngsters as well as strong play by its starters. Trae Young (the best rookie in Hawks franchise history) led the team with 26 points on an efficient 10 of 17 shooting including 5 of 8 from long range.
His passing was stymied by the impressive length and athleticism, which only allowed to accrue 4 assists versus 6 turnovers. The most eye-opening number for Young was his 5 triples on 8 attempts – an excellent 62.5 percent clip.
John Collins got a typical stat line (for him) of 20 points and 11 rebounds, with a whopping 9 of those coming on the offensive end. Collins also logged an impressive 6 assists, meaning he was only 4 dimes shy of a triple-double.
Off the bench, Kent Bazemore notched 12 points on an efficient 3 of 6 shooting and Vince Carter logged 16 points on 4 of 6 shooting from long distance.
Next. Trae Young Has the Clutch Gene. dark
The Atlanta Hawks are back in action tomorrow against the Orlando Magic at 6:00 p.m. EST.