POST GAME ATLANTA - AWAY

HAWKS RUN AWAY LATE, AS CELTICS LOSE 118-107

CSNNE
By A. Sherrod Blakely April 09, 2016 9:45 PM

The points seemed to flow with ease for both Boston and Atlanta in the first half of their Saturday night matchup.

But the second half was a defensive struggle for both teams, the kind of game that speaks to both being among the NBA’s better defensive squads.

Boston made its share of good plays in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks made more, which would prove to be the difference as Atlanta pulled away for a 118-107 win.

Not only did Saturday’s loss snap Boston’s four-game winning streak, but it also dealt a serious blow to the Celtics’ chances of landing the No. 3 seed in the East. Boston (47-33) has now lost the head-to-head series with Atlanta (48-32) with two games remaining against Charlotte and Miami on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.

Arguably the biggest play of the game was a steal by Jeff Teague that led to completing a 3-point play that put the Hawks ahead 110-103.

The Celtics called a time-out with more than three minutes to play, but it didn’t matter.

At no point in the final three minutes did they regain the composure needed to mount a rally as the Hawks continued to surge ahead for a win that strengthens their grip on being the No. 3 seed in the East when the playoffs begin in about a week.

For most of the game, it was an exercise in what has worked all season for the Hawks and to a certain degree, what continues to keep the Celtics close – but not close enough – to being one of the upper-echelon teams in the East.

Atlanta’s strength all season has been their versatility at getting contributions from a variety of players. They did not disappoint on Saturday with 10 players seeing action in the first half, and finishing with five double-figure scorers led by Paul Millsap’s double-double of 31 points and 16 points.

Boston also had a number of players chip in scoring the ball, with the biggest surprise being Marcus Smart.

Smart, who has shot 23.1 percent from 3-point range this month – an improvement over the 14.0 percent he shot on 3s in March – was on top of his long-ball game on Saturday. It was Smart’s shooting that kept the Celtics relatively close as he scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half and finished shooting 4-for-6 on 3s.

For most of the game, it was very much a game of exchanging runs.

In the third quarter, Boston went on a 14-5 run that put Boston ahead 87-75. Atlanta immediately countered with an 18-4 run which gave the Hawks a 93-91 lead going into the fourth. One of the reasons for Boston’s second half struggles to score – they only had 36 points in the second half – was Atlanta clamping down on the Celtics’ 3-point shooting.

And as we have seen this season, most of Boston’s losses this season have come on nights when their shot-making inexplicably disappears at critical moments … like the fourth quarter.

In the first half, Boston was 10-for-19 on 3s. In the second half, they were just 1-for-9 with the lone make coming in the final minutes from R.J. Hunter when the game was all but decided.
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STUDS AND DUDS: PAUL MILLSAP, HAWKS CRUSH CELTICS, TAKE CONTROL OF THIRD PLACE

WEEI

By Sam Packard

In an intense playoff-like atmosphere, the Hawks defeated the Celtics 118-107 on Saturday night in Atlanta.

Hawks forward Paul Millsap was dominant, finishing with 31 points and 16 rebounds, while knocking down 5-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc. Jeff Teague and Kent Bazemore added 24 and 21 respectively, as the Hawks shot an outstanding 51 percent (17-33) from the 3-point line.

Isaiah Thomas, who had his 18-game streak of scoring more than 20 points snapped on Friday, turned in one of his worst performances in recent memories. Thomas finished with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting.

Marcus Smart, who has been struggling for two months with his outside shot, knocked down four of his six attempts from beyond the arc and finished with a team-high 19 points. Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson, Avery Bradley and Evan Turner also finished in double figures.

In a wild and fast-paced first half that featured six ties and nine lead changes, the Celtics and Hawks engaged in a shootout. The C’s were initially able to pick up the slack for Thomas, scoring 71 first-half points by making 10 3-pointers and shooting over 55 percent from the field. The Hawks stayed with the Celtics, making 10 3’s of their own, while also shooting better than 55 percent.

To start the second half, Brad Stevens went small, substituting Smart for Jared Sullinger. The small-ball lineup seemed to work, as the Celtics quickly jumped out to a 12-point lead. Crowder did an excellent job defending the much larger Al Horford in the post during this stretch. With Crowder containing Horford, the Hawks turned to Millsap, who scored 13 of his 31 points in the quarter. To end the third quarter, the Hawks went on two separate 8-0 runs to retake a 93-91 lead entering the final frame. The Celtics only shot 30 percent from the field in the quarter, scoring only 20 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Hawks pulled away, as Thomas’ shooting woes continued. The All-Star guard missed all four of his attempts down the stretch, and the Celtics only scored 16 points.

The win almost guarantees the Hawks will be the third seed in the Eastern Conference. In addition to now being a game ahead of the Celtics in the standings, the Hawks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the C’s.

With the loss, the Celtics (47-33) are now engaged in a battle with the Hornets and Heat for fourth place in the East. The Celtics are a game ahead of both teams in the standings with two games remaining in the season. The Celtics can control the fourth seed, as they will host the Hornets on Monday before playing the Heat in the season finale.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: Paul Millsap.

Millsap played with such tremendous energy throughout his 39 minutes that Celtics broadcasters Mike Gorman and Brian Scalabrine claimed to be seeing double. The C’s really had no answer for Millsap, who hit five of his seven attempts from 3-point range. Shockingly, Millsap was able to do all of his damage without attempting a free throw.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Jared Sullinger.

Sullinger had a tough matchup facing Millsap, and he didn’t step up to the challenge. He was similarly ineffective on offense, collecting just four points on seven shots while only playing 10 minutes.

112288

Too much reliance on the 3, on dribble penetration (IT) and almost no passing in the 2nd half did us in. I also thought Brad should have played Zeller more in the 2nd half instead of Sully who along with IT had a poor night.
Credit Atlanta's defense, they did a job on us. Kudos to Amir and Smart. They came up big.

Berlin-T

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/04/celtics_stumble_in_atlanta

On the second night of the last back-to-back of the year, weariness also appeared to be an issue, though everyone from Brad Stevens to Isaiah Thomas refused to admit it may have played a part.

Avery Bradley, another no-excuses type, however, admitted there was most likely an energy drain.

“To be honest, not to make an excuse or anything, everybody’s tired, man,” said Bradley (15 points). “I’m beat right now. I don’t think guys had legs in the second half. We all were trying to play hard regardless but I think people were a little tired.

“I think we were just playing so hard. And we were kind of letting missed shots dictate our spirit a little bit. I feel like our spirit got down when we were missing wide open shots. We weren’t getting back and they were scoring, and we were digging a hole for ourselves.”

Yes, it was a back-to-back, but didn't the starters sit the entire 4th quarter last night? IT made a lot of very bad decisions.

we are in playoff basketball now...from the intensity of play to the officiating.

time to get used to it.

no more complaining about non calls....play HARDER.

no more easy baskets inside from the other team....put them on their butts.

no more back to backs to have an excuse either.

you're either READY for the playoffs OR you are a team of posers.

which is it Celtics?

That just about takes 3rd place off the table, maybe 5% chance or less. Need to spike an Ace on the river. Just guessing and not checking with Vegas, but do these look/seem about right?

Boston...

Winning Championship Odds 100:1+
Winning ECF Odds 16:1
Winning EC Semis Odds 12:1
Winning 1st Round Odds Even +/-

Getting out of 1st Round/Getting to the 2nd Round is the most realistic goal for this team this season. Anything further is gravy and a big promotional marketing chip to the KD's of the free agency world.

Clearly, our big focus has to be and has been on Danny and what happens after the playoffs. DA taking the backseat on pulling the trigger is just about over if not over post season/playoffs. I would have to say busting in the 1st will be a huge disappointment for us and the Celtics. All the 4 teams from 3-6 are right on top of each other so it's really 4's vs. 5's, anybody's series. Home court isn't going to matter.

But this team continues to surprise us with its grit and ability to win when it counts. Can't get last night back. Would have been nice to win that one and make a statement. But they have exceeded expectations this season for sure.

I would expect a 7-game series in both the 2nd tier EC match-ups, sweepers/blow outs in the other two. Then just see where that takes us. This team has come a long way with just about nothing or any outside help. Home grown for the most part. The Celtic philosophy has always been take a bunch of above average players that play team ball and you will consistently beat the me-ballers of the league just about every time come playoff time. It's been that way since inception of the league. For us, getting to the finals once we are in the playoffs is the difficult part. Once we are there, our record speaks for itself. LAL takes a different approach. Make it to the finals and we will see what happens. They win about 50% of the time with that formula. We show up less but win more efficiently. Two ways to skin the proverbial cat. Same result. Many banners for both. But none this year for either.

db

Both of our fg% were over 50% in the first half, only Atlanta's stayed over 50% for the entire game.  Our offense disappeared.  36 points in the 2nd half isn't going to cut it against most teams and especially not against a playoff team as good as Atlanta.

We made 10 3pt fgs in the 1st half, 10-17, we were 1-11 in the 2nd half.  I think I see a weakness in our game last night.  Atlanta, on the other hand, shot over 51% from 3 for the game.  33% 3pt fg shooter Paul Millsap was 5-7.  33% 3pt fg shooter Dennis Schroder was 3-4.  On our side we had Marcus Smart shooting 4-6 from downtown, but he went 0-2 in the 2nd half swoon.  Atlanta is 35% from 3 for the season.  So, how crazy should we get when Atlanta shoots FAR better from 3 than they have all year?  Should we just mark it up to "great night for them"?

Millsap was a beast last night, totally dominant in every aspect of the game.  Sully played 11 minutes and looked fat and slow when he was in.  2-7 and 1 board is NOT what we needed from him.  Normally he gets up for big games but last night he looked like the 2nd night of the back-to-back was too much for him.  There are no back-to-backs in the playoffs.  That's good for fatso but bad for us since we can't use our youth and energy to our advantage.

Turner looked good.  Smart looked very good.  Amir was a work horse with 8 boards and 4 blocks.

Other than Korver, our back court got out played.  Bradley and IT were a combined 12-36, 3-11 from 3.  They scored 31 points but sucked a lot of the air out of our offense with their poor fg%.  You can't have 2 guys taking over 1/3 of the team's fgas and shoot that poorly and expect to win.  Teague and Schroder did a fantastic defensive job on Thomas.  Budenholzer did a great job of preparing them for IT's game.  He had a lot of trouble getting to his dominant left hand.  He also missed a lot of shots he normally doesn't miss.

I can see what Teague is available, Schroder is really stepping up his game.  I don't know if Teague is worth what Atlanta must be asking for him, I guess he isn't since he's still in Atlanta, but Schroder is starting to impress.

Ok, so Atlanta, rested, on the 2nd game of a back-to-back was going to be very tough, and it was.  Now we need the next two home games.  Charlotte tomorrow.  They are currently a 1/2 game back from us, as is Miami.  Losing either one of these games would probably drop us into 5th and maybe even 6th.  The season has come down to that and so has the playoffs.  Gaining a home court series is a big development growth for us.  These two games will speak volumes about where we are.


bob


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We were on 2nd game of back to back, Atlanta had the previous night off.

I think we match up well with Atlanta, Milsap has 2 games like that a year, actually that might have been a career night for him. Sully was off, but they have the type of smallish frontline that Sully should be able to score on down low and rebound. Nice to see Smart have a good shooting game.

I wouldn't mind facing Hawks in playoffs, we have the better bench, who do they have except Schroder? we have ET, Smart, KO, maybe Rozier and Z can also step up.

cowens/oldschool wrote:We were on 2nd game of back to back, Atlanta had the previous night off.

I think we match up well with Atlanta, Milsap has 2 games like that a year, actually that might have been a career night for him. Sully was off, but they have the type of smallish frontline that Sully should be able to score on down low and rebound. Nice to see Smart have a good shooting game.

I wouldn't mind facing Hawks in playoffs, we have the better bench, who do they have except Schroder? we have ET, Smart, KO, maybe Rozier and Z can also step up.

cow,

They have Sefelosha (who started next to Westbrook on an OKC team that went to the Finals.  A defensive 2), Shroder (a blossoming PG), Splitter (who started on the Spurs next to Duncan.  Budenholzer is a Pop protege, so Splitter knows the system), Kris Humphries (a solid, physical, excellent rebounding  4 who is very dangerous if open from mid-range) and Tim Hardaway, Jr. (a streaky, but lights-out when he's on, shooter).  That's a pretty damn good 2nd unit.

Their first unit is all-star Jeff Teague, all-star Al Horford, all-star Paul Millsap, all-star Kyle Korver and Ken Bazemore.

Furthermore, they play a very similar system as ours.  Budenholzer was an assistant coach for Pop and Brad's system is based upon Pop's.

The teams we are most likely to meet in the 2nd round, assuming we make it there, are very tough for us.  Cleveland is Cleveland.  They have 3 all-leaguers, some bigs that are dominant in Thompson and Mozgov and some good bench guards in Delly and Shumpert.  If they have a weakness it's depth at big, as we saw last year, and at LBJ's back up at SF.  They also have another year together and are hungry.  Toronto has Lowry and DeRozan.  Their front court isn't scary, but it seems to work and they have won and won and won this year and you can't argue with that.  And Atlanta.

The East is not, in my opinion, anywhere near as soft at the top of the conference as it has been in recent years.

Our record aside, I'd say we are a top 10 team in the NBA this year.  Unless our youth trips us up that should, if we play like we can, get us to the 2nd round.  Every victory after that is pure gravy.  It gives us experience you have to have to compete, not just at that level but against specific opponents (see Heat, 2010; Spurs, 2013.  Both teams lost that year but won the Championship the next, and neither the Heat, and certainly not the Spurs, were not "too young").  There's a learning curve for coaching staffs and the players.  Pop, with all his experience and rings, had to learn how to beat the Heat roster and style in a 7 game series.  Brad needs that too.  

Isaiah Thomas said he wants to talk to Tom Brady about "what it takes to win it all".  He sees it, he sees that it's a completely different mindset and that he doesn't have it.  Our problem, as you know, is that IT is our only "go to" guy.  If he has a bad playoffs we are in big trouble since you need more than just defense.


bob


.

Looking more like MIA for us in the 1st Round with CHA losing this afternoon.

db

bob

The Atlanta all stars are the one and done type, they are not the 8-10 time type like say a Paul Pierce, a feared money scorer. Horford is not a 20-10 guy and never was, Milsap, Teague, Korver making an all star team shows me how weak this era really is cause those players don't get a sniff of an all star team in the mid 80's. Sefolosha has no offense and is on downside as is Humphries and Splitter, but we still have a hole ourselves at center, hopefully our PF's playing center can do enough big man things. We should be able to outwear them with our depth, they don't have a monster frontline or pre eminent superstar carrying them, so I still like that match up, would prefer it.

cow

dbrown4 wrote:Looking more like MIA for us in the 1st Round with CHA losing this afternoon.  

db

Yep and the final game could be for home court, most likely will be

beat

cowens/oldschool wrote:bob

The Atlanta all stars are the one and done type, they are not the 8-10 time type like say a Paul Pierce, a feared money scorer. Horford is not a 20-10 guy and never was, Milsap, Teague, Korver making an all star team shows me how weak this era really is cause those players don't get a sniff of an all star team in the mid 80's. Sefolosha has no offense and is on downside as is Humphries and Splitter, but we still have a hole ourselves at center, hopefully our PF's playing center can do enough big man things. We should be able to outwear them with our depth, they don't have a monster frontline or pre eminent superstar carrying them, so I still like that match up, would prefer it.

cow

Cow,

Millsap - 3x all star
Horford - 4x all star

Teague and Korver are 1x but Korver is one of rhe top 3pt shooters in history.  He is averaging 40% this year, 43% carrer and he 390 3pt fgas this season and counting.  I know you aren't into stats but those pretty good numbers.  He makes things a lot easier for Millsap and Horford.

Sefelosha and Splitter might not be what they used to be but what they used to be were starters on excellent teams.  Walton wasn't what he used ro be when he came to Boston but he was still an amazing back up.  Quality is still quality.  Pierce can't do 35mog anymore but he can give you 20-25 good ones.  That's all those 2 need to do.



bov



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