Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 32 points and a career high seven 3-pointers on Friday night to lead the Boston Celtics to their sixth straight win by taking down the Atlanta Hawks 112-107 at TD Garden in Boston.
Boston took an early 11-1 lead a little less than two minutes into action. The Celtics led by as many as 14 in the opening 12 minutes, but Atlanta used a 13-4 run to cut it to 28-26 after one quarter. The Hawks came all the way back to grab a 35-33 lead on a De’Andre Hunter three-pointer 3:07 into the second quarter. The hosts took back the lead and pushed it up to eight again, but Atlanta (14-39) responded to take the lead in the final two minutes. Tatum hit a three-pointer with 12.5 seconds left to get the Celtics within one and it was 55-54 Hawks at the halftime break.
Boston (36-15) owned the third quarter. After Kevin Huerter hit a three-pointer to make it 62-60 Atlanta, Tatum hit another three to give the Celtics the lead for good 35 seconds later. Romeo Langford made it 87-70 in favor of the green late in the period for their biggest lead of the night. The Celtics outscored the Hawks 33-18 in the 12 minutes for a 14 point lead headed to the fourth. Atlanta cut it to three with a minute left and again with 41.3 seconds left, but Kemba Walker and Langford hit 4-4 from the line in the last 54 seconds to help the Celtics hold on.
Tatum shot 10-19 from the floor overall (7-12 three-pointers) and also added four rebounds, six assists, and two blocks in the Boston win. Langford had 16 points and five rebounds. Enes Kanter had a double double also scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Walker finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists. John Collins led Atlanta in the loss with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Huerter had 25 points, Brandon Goodwin 21, while Vince Carter 10 and Treveon Graham 10 points rounded out the double digit scorers for the Hawks. Boston played without Jaylen Brown, Daniel Theis, and Gordon Hayward while Atlanta played without All-Star Trea Young. The Celtics are in Oklahoma City to battle the Thunder on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
