The Hawks were more competitive in Tuesday night’s Game 2 of their opening-round playoff series against the Celtics than they were in the previous one. But Boston ultimately rolled to a 119-106 win to take a 2-0 lead anyway, making it clear that the talent gap between the teams is simply too big.
Jayson Tatum had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Derrick White added 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting for the Celtics, who shot 55.8 percent and 45.5 percent from the 3-point line. Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 29 points.
Observations from the game:
▪ When White went to the free throw line late in the fourth quarter, he was serenaded with some pretty loud “MVP” chants. And it was hard to argue with them on this night. White was relentless at both ends of the floor, whether swatting away Trae Young’s layup attempts or hitting timely second-half 3-pointers while Boston was teetering a bit.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla went away from White in key fourth-quarter spots earlier this season, but he has become this team’s third most important player, and perhaps even second after Tatum.
▪ Atlanta has had one of the best offenses in the NBA since Quin Snyder took over in February, but the Celtics have made it appear feeble. On Tuesday they blocked 12 shots, had 10 steals, and made everything difficult for the Hawks.
▪ After Game 1, Mazzulla pointed out that the Hawks had missed some open 3-pointers at the start that may have dented their confidence and their chances. The beginning of this game felt different. Atlanta, which started 1 for 16 from beyond the arc Saturday, was 3 for 4 on Tuesday. The Hawks had some spring in their step.
But after surging to a 22-11 lead, the Hawks saw two open 3-pointers rattle in and out and a third wiped away because of a traveling call. The Celtics could have bounced back from a 17-point deficit, too, but it felt like the Hawks missed a chance to really seize control.
▪ The Celtics have often struggled with Tatum on the bench, but their quick comeback Tuesday was sparked without him. They went on a 12-0 run as Tatum watched.
▪ Jaylen Brown’s advanced statistics are generally pretty bad. It’s somewhat surprising considering he is such a gifted scorer. But he rarely gets to the free throw line and his turnovers come too frequently and are usually live-ball miscues leading to leak-outs. He had three of them in the first quarter Tuesday.
▪ NBA players tend to pass up half-court heaves at the buzzer because they don’t want to hurt their 3-point numbers on such a low-percentage shot. But they’re usually not obvious about it. They’ll just take an extra dribble, wait for the buzzer to sound, and then fire up a 40-footer as if they were just a moment too late.
During the regular season, Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon was a serial offender. But these are the playoffs, where the games matter more, and the stats aren’t as influential. So at the end of the first quarter Tuesday, Brogdon willingly raced to midcourt and fired up a shot just in time. It caromed in off the glass, naturally.
▪ Brogdon’s heave was made possible by a powerful block by White, who will likely be named to an All-Defense team later this month. White, who was 6 for 8 in the first half, also had a nice steal in the backcourt that was followed by an acrobatic reverse layup. He’s been immensely valuable to the Celtics this season.
▪ Opposing offenses have constantly tried to pick on Celtics forward Sam Hauser this season. But it hasn’t been an effective strategy. Hauser actually finished with the best defensive rating in the NBA this season. Hauser is not a lockdown defender, of course, and this stat can be fluky. But in this case it’s an indication that teams veer from their traditional approaches to hunt Hauser. In the first half Tuesday, Young hunted switches against Hauser and turned the ball over on consecutive possessions.
▪ Before this game, Snyder said his team must stop the Celtics’ straight-line drives that were met with minimal resistance in Game 1. That didn’t happen in the first half. Tatum led the attack that morphed from some strong drives out of half-court sets to a relentless, fast-breaking surge. Boston had a 38-18 edge in points in the paint during the first half, and a 13-5 lead in fast-break points. That helped the the Celtics flip that early 11-point deficit to a 61-49 lead at the break.
▪ But Snyder has also been hoping to see his team embrace the 3-pointer, especially open ones. Atlanta ranked 28th in the NBA in attempts per game this season and never took more than 41 in a game. It topped that mark with 7:45 left in the fourth quarter in this game, but was off on a few open ones that really could have made things interesting.
▪ The Celtics were on the edge of turning the game into a blowout in the third quarter. Tatum started the period with a pair of 3-pointers, and during one sequence midway through the quarter Al Horford and Robert Williams blanketed John Collins inside, Horford swatted his shot, and then raced upcourt and drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner that gave the Celtics their largest lead to that point, 79-59.
But much like in Game 1, the Hawks crafted a comeback before the Celtics could finish them off. This one transpired with Young on the bench and Murray carrying the offense. He scored 13 points in the quarter and helped the Hawks pull within 90-81.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.
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2023-04-19 01:11:49Z
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