Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart combined for 84 points on Thursday night in helping to lead the Boston Celtics to a 128-120 win over the Atlanta Hawks in game six of an NBA Eastern Conference First Round series at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Boston wins the series 4-2, advancing to round two to take on old friend Doc Rivers and his Philadelphia 76ers.
Boston got off to a red hot start, and a three-pointer by Smart just over 2:30 into the first quarter made it 12-2 Celtics and forced an early Atlanta timeout. Trae Young then got hot as he has done this entire series. Young hit 5-10 from the floor, hitting three 3-pointers, and also nailed 5-5 from the foul line for 18 points to give the Hawks a pair of one point leads, but they trailed 35-34 after 12 minutes. The hosts took the lead back in the second by as many as seven, before Boston used a 15-4 run helped by three 3-pointers by Brown to jump ahead by four. The C’s held a slight one point advantage at the half 68-67, as the two teams combined to hit 19 three-pointers in the first 24 minutes of action.
Each team held a third quarter lead in the back and forth battle, as Atlanta led by as many as five and Boston was up four late in the period. The Hawks scored the final six points and carried a 100-98 advantage to the fourth. The Celtics would take the lead for good 116-113 to close out the series when Al Horford knocked in a three-pointer with 3:35 left to play. They continued the run with a Tatum three-pointer, a follow-up rebound dunk by Tatum off a missed Horford three-pointer, and another three-pointer by Smart put it away with an 11-0 spurt down the stretch.
Brown led all scorers with 32 points (6-8 three-pointers) and five rebounds. Tatum finished with his fourth double double of the series with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists. Smart put in 22 points and added four rebounds and four assists. Also scoring in double figures was Malcolm Brogdon with 17 points and Horford who had 10 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three blocks making some key plays and a key shot in the final minutes. Young and De’Andre Hunter led Atlanta in the loss. Young had 30 points and 10 assists, while Hunter contributed 20 points. The Hawks as the #7 Eastern Conference seed finish their season with a record of 44-45. #2 Boston and #3 Philadelphia will now meet up in the Conference Semifinals. The Celtics have the home court advantage, hosting games one and two Monday and Wednesday night at 7:30 and 8 p.m. at TD Garden. Boston won the regular season series 3-1.
Story by Chris Lessner/Video Highlights courtesy of the NBA website
