The Boston Celtics put five players in double figures Monday night, led by Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Jaylen Brown to take down the Atlanta Hawks 123-115 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia for their fourth straight win.
Both teams held a first quarter lead, with Atlanta (13-38) having the biggest of six on two different occasions and 34-28 at the end of the first 12 minutes. Boston held a lead of two twice in the second quarter, but the Hawks led by as many as seven on a Kevin Huerter three-pointer and held a 62-60 halftime advantage.
The Celtics retook the lead for good early in the third by scoring the first seven points, and stretched it to the biggest lead of the night twice by 13 points on a Tatum three-pointer and then a turnaround jumper by the former Duke Blue Devil on the next possession. Atlanta never led after the first Boston possession and trailed 95-84 after three. With the guests up 13 early in the fourth, the Hawks made one more run. With the Celtics making some costly turnovers to fuel the run, Atlanta went on a 15-4 spurt over the next 4:48 cutting it to 103-101 on a Huerter pullup jumper with 6:03 left. The key play came with 3:19 to play when Grant Williams completed an unconventional three point play to push it back to a six point Boston lead. Atlanta cut it to 117-113 with just over a minute left but that is the closest they came, as Brad Wanamaker and Tatum both knocked down 2-2 from the line in the final 26.7 seconds to ice the road victory.
Boston (34-15) who was playing without Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker was led by Tatum who had 28 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the win. Hayward finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Brown put up 21 points and five rebounds, while both Wanamaker 16 and Williams 13 points also got into double figures. Tatum and Hayward combined to make eight of the 12 made three-pointers on the night for the green (8-15). Trae Young led Atlanta in the loss with a game high 34 points, also adding seven assists and two steals. Huerter had 23 points, John Collins 22, and Jeff Teague 18 points to round out the double digit scorers. The Celtics are tied for the fourth best record in the NBA, and return to action on Wednesday night when they host the Orlando Magic at 7:30 p.m.
