Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum both had a double double, while Derrick White and Robert Williams III both sparked the Boston Celtics off the bench in a 112-99 win over the Atlanta Hawks in game one of an NBA Eastern Conference Playoff First Round series at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon.
Atlanta had a pair of two point leads very early on in the first two minutes, but a layup by Tatum put Boston back in front for good 2:47 into action. The Celtics would lead 29-19 after the opening 12 minutes. The hosts really opened up in the second outscoring the Hawks 45-25 that included seven makes from the three-point arc to take command at halftime 74-44. The biggest lead early in the third quarter was 32, and despite a good answer by Atlanta to get within 12 a couple times in the fourth it wasn’t enough.
Brown had 29 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists in the win. Tatum finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. White hit four three-pointers off the bench and had 24 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. Williams III logged 21 minutes also off the bench and recorded 12 points and eight rebounds, while Marcus Smart also finished in double figures with 11 points, seven assists, and three steals. Williams III was 6-6 from the floor and tied a Boston postseason record in doing so. Williams III now has three playoff games in his career with 100% field goal shooting with 10 or more points, tying him with Ed Pickney (1990, 1991 playoffs) as the only other player in franchise history to accomplish that. Dejounte Murray had 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists to lead five players in double figures for the seventh seed Atlanta. The #2 Celtics look to take a 2-0 lead in the series on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at TD Garden.
Story by Chris Lessner
