POST GAME ATLANTA - AWAY - BOS 113, ATL 105 Final

Celtics Wrap: Kyrie Irving Drops 32 As Boston Claws Past Hawks On Road

NESN by Michael McMahon on Sat, Jan 19, 2019 at 10:00PM

Playing on the second leg of a back-to-back on the road, the Boston Celtics dug deep down the stretch to pull off a 113-105 win over a surging Atlanta Hawks team Saturday night.

Another monster performance from Kyrie Irving, along with an important nine-point fourth quarter from Jaylen Brown off the bench allowed the Celtics to steal one after trailing for most of the night.

Irving finished with 32 points while Jayson Tatum followed with 19. Brown finished with 14, while Al Horford was also in double digits with 13. Terry Rozier had nine points with a team-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

With the win, the Celtics advance to 28-18, while the Hawks fall to 14-31.

Here’s how it all went down:

STARTING FIVE
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Marcus Morris
C: Al Horford

C’D STRUGGLING ON D
The Hawks were able to get their offense going early and the Celtics had little answer in their defensive half, as Atlanta sunk 14-of-26 from the floor to take a 36-28 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

After the Hawks took an early lead, the Celtics were never able to climb within six points, as the deficit climbed to double digits. Omari Spellman hit a three-pointer to make it 27-16 with 3:49 left in the quarter. The Atlanta advantage grew to as much as 13 when Huerter sunk a layup to make it 31-18 with 2:25 to go in the quarter.

Boston narrowed the deficit in the final minute, with Kyrie Irving converting on a 3-point play to make it an eight-point game heading into the second quarter.

KYRIE KEEPS IT CLOSE
A 15-point quarter from Irving was not enough to push the Celtics to a halftime lead, but the star guards effort kept things within reach as Atlanta took a 67-60 lead into the break.

The Hawks went on a 14-4 run to give them their biggest edge of the half, leading 50-34 with 8:55 left and forcing Brad Stevens to use a full time out.

The Celtics chipped away, going on a 10-2 run over the next 3:54, capped off by a monster pull-up three from Irving that made it 52-44 with 5:01 to go in the half.

The final minute was a three fest. With Alex draining a trey to make it 64-54, but was answered by Irving who nailed a triple of his own. Young clapped back with another triple. But it was once again Irving, capping his monster first half with a 30-foot bomb to send the C’s to the room trailing by seven.

CELTICS BUCKLE DOWN
Looking for a spark after a flat first half, the Celtics buckled down on defense, and taking a 23-22 advantage in the third quarter, heading into the fourth down 89-83.

Irving kept his hot hand going in the second half, draining Boston’s only points in the first three minutes of the quarter. Atlanta, however, built the lead back up to double digits. A Marcus Smart technical foul allowed the Hawks to make it 76-65 with 8:43 to go in the quarter.

Smart took his second technical before a jump ball after jawing with DeAndre Bembry, which led to a brief skirmish between the two.

The Hawks were able to maintain their lead for the rest of the quarter, but three-straight buckets from the Celtics, to close the quarter made it a six-point game heading into the fourth quarter.

BOSTON STEALS IT
After trailing for most of the evening, a shut-down fourth quarter, in which Boston outscored the Hawks 30-16, led to the Celtics marching on to an important road win.

The Celtics got out to a 12-4 run to start the quarter, taking their first lead since it was 3-2 in the first quarter when Brown sunk a three to make it 95-93 with 9:07 to play.

The team traded baskets for the next two minutes, with Boston clinging to a 101-100 lead with 5:23 to play after a Irving layup.

Both teams went the next 3:36 without a field goal, with Horford making it 105-100 after two trips to the line. Tatum tossed in a put back attempt with 1:47 to go to make it 107-100.

The Hawks faded in the closing minutes, with Boston building the lead up to double digits.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Scary stuff from Terry with the steal and the slam.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will return home Monday to host the Miami Heat. Tip-off from TD Garden is slated for 6 p.m. ET.

112288

do you thing Smart will miss any games over tonight"s incident?

jrleftfoot wrote:do you thing Smart will miss any games over tonight"s incident?

I tthought the ref over-reacted but so did Marcus. I see a one game suspension and a fine. This could have been really ugly. He was off the chain.

Bembry must have been talking smack and Marcus is not one to back down.

Another lesson to learn.

I was thinking maybe a game too. Thankful he didn't land a punch.

Yeah, I don't fully understand the Smart situation. He needs to keep his cool, though, for sure. Suspend him one game and fine him. He won't do it again. He is always so even keeled temper-wise. Someone must have really gotten under his skin to set him off like that. But whatever it was about, it changed the course of the game and maybe was enough to change the course of the season and snap the team out of La La Land. The team saw their best all around player get himself ejected in a perceived meaningless game. That would get my attention. It may be the biggest game of the season, We'll see its impact soon enough. Enough on that.

We can officially take arguments off the table now that Kyrie is not leading by example. Quite possibly over-reacting to all that recent flack at times but when you're hot, you're not. Give him the ball. It does look like it at times in that it leaves the rest of the team out of sync in the game but he is really fun to watch. He is starting to have that LeBron attitude now of, "I'm not losing this game. We're not losing this game. You can either help or not, I will need your help but we're not losing these games anymore. I'm taking this team this way. Follow me or help me find a better way. I'm all ears."

I actually watched this game almost 3 times. At least the 4th quarter, 3 times. LP had the ATL homers on there and they were essentially chewing Horford a new one for his lack of rebounding, not scoring, leaving ATL, etc. Well, AL woke up in the 4th in time to clean out ATL. He was 1 rebound short of a double double when all was said and done.

Also what happened to Hayward? Excused absence? Of course homers didn't have anything to say about that. He's not even on the scorecard as DNP. Didn't he have a baby or something? That's probably it.

Brown played well. Our Semi-Sized open lane policy didn't help us much but in the end, it didn't matter.

B2B win was nice. Again, they are playing up to the level of their competition which is better than playing below it like they have prior to the last two games. This may be a a backhanded glimmer in itself so I won't post it. But in the event this leads to them starting to annihilate any and everything in their path, I'll note it.

Assist to FG stat wasn't normal as it took them a plodding, methodical 3 quarters plus to figure everything out. However 10 Steals(JB-3, TRoz -3) and 8 Blocks (Tatum-3 and there he is again...Horford-2!) is very good numbers on the defensive end for sure.

This was a pure grind out victory on the 2nd night of a B2B with an ejection of Smart thrown in for good measure. It's just like a coach tossing himself to get his team's attention and get them re-motivated and re-focused. If he's THAT P.O'ed, I don't want to hear what he has to say back in the locker room if we blow this game, so I'm winning at all costs!

db

Great win, we came back after some lights out shooting by them couldn’t be sustained and our defense got tighter with 2 J’s leading the defensive pressure. Smart got thrown out on 2nd tech, players were just speaking, wasn’t physical until ref got there, that’s what I saw. Ref going there made situation worse.

Kyrie has every shot in the book, he had a lefty hook shot that was pure Bird, great to have an elite closer. Jaylen got hot at the right time with 9 straight points, 6 of them on FT’s, great to see him hit attacking and hit them as we need 2 J’s to get to line consistently for this team to get to next level. Good comeback game from Tatum after a goose egg previous game. Loved the disruptive defense that Tatum and Brown played in the 4th. Al and Baynes doing just enough on boards. I noticed when Al was on floor by himself without Baynes, we had trouble rebounding, together team rebounds much better. This team has a lot of great defensive players, Al still very good, even though he can get moved at times. Baynes is our Australian oak, 2 J’s have great length and athleticism to be match up nightmare for wings and can even play some 4 in certain match ups.

Good win on the road on second game of b2b, if we could just get Rozier’s game better would be huge, we actually took lead back without Kyrie and Smart, even though Kyrie was still key later down the stretch. Love how we turned up the defense in the 4th quarter, swarming and locked them down on perimeter, forcing them into terrible shots.

Here is the game flow:

Wasn't Haywards wife having a baby?

kdp59 wrote:Wasn't Haywards wife having a baby?

Yes.

It's ironic that it took the Ejection of the heart and pride of our team to INject some energy and heart and pride into our team.  After Smart was walked off the floor it was a gun going off for every Celtic left to play.  I'm expecting a 1 game suspension, maybe 2 but unlikely, for Smart.  No punches were thrown, nothing landed.  The ref blew it.  He teed up Smart for his 2nd technical just because him and Bembry were talking.  They were next to each other for the jump ball and jawing but they weren't jaw-to-jaw jawing, they were just running their mouths.  The ref who made that call was the far official, NOT the one standing right there about to toss up the ball.  Awful referreeing last night, and we won, so this isn't sour grapes.  AWFUL.

Part of this is what the NBA has become.  This is why I watch our Celtics religiously, and sometimes the GSW because they are my local team and their games are on TVs in restaurants and bars, but don't usually watch other NBA teams.  You're not allowed to play defense anymore.  You're not allowed to climb back into a game by sucking it up and getting stops, as we saw last night you're not even allowed to talk to an opposing player in anything other than glowing terms, you're expected to 3pt shoot your way back into it.  I hate to say it, but that's why giving up an athletic defender and streaky shooter like Jaylen Brown for another barely-stoppable offensive machine like Bradley Beal might be a good trade for us.  Yuck.  I hate it.  Bring me the NBA Commissioner's head on an Adam Silver platter!  Ok, enough of that rant, but when you mess with my new love, you mess with me...

Morris with another stinker.  Mid-season slump.

But Tatum with a good one.  An efficient 7-13, ZERO 3pt FGAS!  3 blocks.  He even rebounded the ball, brought it up to the top of the key and then passed it!!  I almost fell down in shock (time to wake up and smell the sarcasm).

Kyrie in sustained god-mode.  As much of a slump Morris is in that's how big a surge Irving is in.  He was throwing in 3s from 28', distance doesn't matter to him.  And his handle?  Tiny Archibald was a great ball-handler, Cousy was the pioneer of course, but I don't think we've ever had a ball-handler like Kyrie.  In the history of the NBA there have only been a few magicians like him (Maravich, Iverson, Magic).  Check him out at 1:50 of this film.  Oh, what the Hell, it's only 2:00, watch the whole damn thing.  Splurge!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcZhQgGBrdk

Terry Rozier was 4-12, 1-5 from 3, but he had 11 rebounds and 3 steals.  Let's face it, TRo isn't a good shooter, but he does other things very well and those things are rebounding, ball-hawking and bringing energy.  It's good for his confidence to have a big game getting back to the things he does well.  Now trade him (or keep him because he's part of the Beal or Davis package).

I hate being a spoilsport (truth is, I don't really hate it) but the Hawks were still shooting almost 49% after 3.  That's shitty defense.  They're not GSW.  In fact they are 21st in fg%.  By the end of the game, though, the Hawks got grounded.  A 16 point 4th quarter, with the last 2 being a meaningless, uncontested layup at the buzzer.  Where they were hitting everything they started hitting nothing.  Our energy levels went sky-high after the Smart ejection too.

Remember what I said about Adam Silver's head?  That's what Hawks fans should be calling for with Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk for trading Doncic away for Trae Young.  What a blunder.  The deal was Doncic for Young plus a top 5 protected pick this year.  So, maybe it works out for Atlanta, depending upon who they get this year (I doubt Dallas will end up < 5, but without JJ Barea it is more likely than before) but right now it's looking more like Danny trading the #1 pick for #3 Tatum + pick so Philly could move up and take Fultz, redux.  The team that had the higher pick and traded down won the trade and the team that traded up screwed up.

I do like Kevin Huerter though.  The Hawks did a great job picking him #19.  Better than they did trading for Trae Young.

A nice come-from-behind win against a team we should never have been behind.  It was our first road win of 2019.  Today is the 20th.  Keep the champagne on ice for a while longer.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071359




bob



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Bob

Speaking of that jump ball when Smart got tossed....

How long did the official hold the damn thing?  All the while he’s figuring out which direction to toss it The conversation is going on.  

Just throw it up!!!

Of course they can’t even do that very well.  

Hate the college alternative possession rule.  Your on defense force a loose ball, and get a tie up you should be rewarded with possession.  

When I reffed years ago we had an instructor who had us spend time tossing a ball up thru the bottom of the hoop and back down trying not to hit the rim.  Of course those days every quarter started with a jump ball too.

Today’s officials can’t toss a good jump ball period.

A yes it was a rather poorly officiated game.  


beat

Hueter surprised me early, then as soon as Jaylen clamped down on him in 2nd half, he couldn’t do anything. No question Jaylen has the talent to be a lockdown defender and in time hopefully he will improve more and get the defensive recognition. I’m in agreement with you bob, that the NBA as a whole has gone soft and 3 point happy, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be potent on defense, which is what this franchises championship teams have all been in their eras....and I like that, live for it, love seeing lockdown defense more than 3 point shots. We do have very many great defenders, one Smart is at his peak, the others have the attributes and can become elite defenders, those kind of players we have to keep....

Boston has now won three games in a row including a signature win over the Raptors, after losing 3 games that they should have won. Beating bad teams is really important.

If Boston had won the other 3 games their record would be 31-15 (3rd) place and a stones's throw away from the top of the EC. The time has come for this team to buckle down and listen to their coach and go out there and execute the game plan. Brad needs to be better in terms of identifying team needs on the court.

The longest home stand begins with Miami, followed by Cleveland, GSW, Brooklyn and Charlotte.

beat wrote:Bob

Speaking of that jump ball when Smart got tossed....

How long did the official hold the damn thing?  All the while he’s figuring out which direction to toss it The conversation is going on.  

Just throw it up!!!

Of course they can’t even do that very well.  

Hate the college alternative possession rule.  Your on defense force a loose ball, and get a tie up you should be rewarded with possession.  

When I reffed years ago we had an instructor who had us spend time tossing a ball up thru the bottom of the hoop and back down trying not to hit the rim.  Of course those days every quarter started with a jump ball too.

Today’s officials can’t toss a good jump ball period.  

A yes it was a rather poorly officiated game.  


beat

Beat not to ignore Smart's dust up but that jump ball was an example of a ref not being able to get the play started. I was like throw the f...... ball up you moron.

Guys are always fighting for position and the ref comes right over and T's up Marcus like it was all his fault. It was a BS call.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Hueter surprised me early, then as soon as Jaylen clamped down on him in 2nd half, he couldn’t do anything. No question Jaylen has the talent to be a lockdown defender and in time hopefully he will improve more and get the defensive recognition. I’m in agreement with you bob, that the NBA as a whole has gone soft and 3 point happy, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be potent on defense, which is what this franchises championship teams have all been in their eras....and I like that, live for it, love seeing lockdown defense more than 3 point shots. We do have very many great defenders, one Smart is at his peak, the others have the attributes and can become elite defenders, those kind of players we have to keep....

Cow,

This NBA is very, very different from the NBA of the past, of the eras of our championships.  I don't like it, I even despise it, but it is what it is and I want to win #18 so I'm willing to make decisions that stick in my craw and go against my better nature because those are the ones that need to be made to win.  I like to play amateur GM as much as the next fan but I'm glad Danny is the real GM and not me because I'd have trouble rising above my existing prejudices and preferences and make the right decision for the future, although I'd try to overcome my reluctance, while he will do whatever it takes and doesn't care about how things "used to be" like we do.


bob


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Bob H actually Danny has done a great job acquiring personnel to defend well in this era, we are loaded with great perimeter/wing defenders....